Would you take your bibles and turn to Mark's gospel. We are returning once again to our verse-by-verse study of the gospel of Mark; and we are in Mark 11. And in a few minutes, we will look at verses one through 14. And actually, this is, and I'm somewhat embarrassed to say this, the second part of the Royal Entrance and False Coronation, that I preached on, I think, September 24. So we've had a little bit of a break there. I will review some of part one so that you get the connection, Lord willing. But before we look at it, may I just say, it is such a privilege to be able to come together and study truth in this age of deception. I'm sure you're like me, you just get so tired of being gaslighted, right? Of seeing one thing and having somebody tell me that that's not what you're seeing; to be constantly lied to. And so to have the word of God, and to be able to look at it, to read it, to study it; and to experience the Spirit wrought change that it produces in our heart, is something that we should never lose the wonder of.

I was thinking this week, we're all very familiar with the things going on in Israel. I just finished a four-part series on that, and we see the wickedness of the false religion of Islam and the types of things it can produce. And certainly, we are also experiencing in our culture, one of the most deadly destructive false religions that that I've seen in a long time, and it's basically the woke cult of Cultural Marxism. With its diversity, equity and inclusion, its social justice deceptions, is one of the deadliest false religions Satan has ever devised. A fanatical system that demands complete devotion and demonic religion, preparing the world for the rule of the Antichrist. And as you think about it, one of the things we must do, as we come together as believers is understand how Satan works. We're warned to be aware of the schemes of the devil. And certainly, this particular cult is invading our country and many others around the world. From kindergarten to 12th grade, from our universities to big tech; big business, journalism, science, entertainment, government, military-- the woke lunacy has successfully taken over every institution that can transmit their immoral and tyrannical agenda. Every institution except two. Every institution except the two that God has ordained: Christian marriage and the church. And it is not able to take over Christian marriage and the church, though they are trying with every breath. And what we are doing today is one of the primary reasons why they will not take over Christian marriage and the church. We belong to Christ. And we will continue to thrive regardless of the persecution because we are submitting ourselves to the most powerful, supernatural weapon in the universe. And that is the Word of the living God.

In Second Corinthians 10, verse three and following the Apostle Paul reminds us, "For though we walk in the flesh"--in other words, though we have human limitations--"we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses." And certainly, there he's speaking of our weaponry of the word and prayer. He goes on to say, "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." And beloved, that must be our motivation, yet again this morning, as we come together and submit ourselves to the teaching of the Word of God.

Now with that, let me read our text in Mark 11. Actually, I'm going to go through verse 11. So Mark 11, beginning in verse one through verse 11. "As they approached Jerusalem at Bethpage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, and said to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' you say, 'The Lord has need of it'; and immediately he will send it back here.'" They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it. Some of the bystanders were saying to them, 'What are you doing, untying the colt?' They spoke to them, just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it. And many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. Those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; blessed is the coming kingdom of our father, David; Hosanna! in the highest!' Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany, with the twelve, since it was already late."

This is an amazing passage that has astounding theological significance, historical significance; especially as it relates to the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. By way of review, in everything that Jesus did up to this point, as recorded in the gospels, was orchestrated to reach a high point on the day of what is commonly called the triumphal entry. Remember, he has raised Lazarus from the dead, that got enormous attention. He encountered then the rich young ruler, he gave sight to two blind men in Jericho. We see the conversion of Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector. And then he gives his parable in Luke 19, concerning a nobleman--referring to Christ--who travels to a distant country--referring to Heaven--to receive a kingdom; in other words, to receive official authority to reign and then he returns to rule over his kingdom. Then we read about Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem, over the tragedy that the Israelites could not see; that this was the time that the things that would make for peace, as Jesus said, and now he says that they will be hidden from your eyes, and therefore the earthly kingdom that they longed for would be postponed for a future time. Even his time of arrival in Jerusalem, was precisely the date promised by Daniel in Daniel 9:25. A prophecy given over 600 years earlier. Even his mount, a colt; the foal of a donkey was consistent with Zechariah's prophecy in Zechariah nine and verse nine; a prophecy given a few years later, probably around 550 or so BC. So everything that Jesus did, pointed to the day of his messianic presentation foretold by the Old Testament prophets. Prophets that predicted the manner, the moment and even the meaning of the king’s final offer to Israel, for indeed he came to present himself to Israel as the Messiah of Old Testament prophecy.

Following his entry, as we're going to see later, he will speak a new series of parables about the kingdom. He will do battle with, one last time, with the religious elite, and then state his last lament over the city. And then he will give his last and his longest eschatological discourse concerning the prophetic program of the end of the age, including the parenthesis of time and events which must intervene between his departure and his return again as King of kings. There in His Olivet Discourse, in preparation for that interregnum, he will emphasize two main events. Number one, God's judgment on Israel, especially in Jerusalem, involving the destruction of the temple. And also secondly, the glorious return of Christ to finally consummate the age and establish his earthly kingdom.

So, in our text this morning, we can see God's kingdom program and how this fits in to where he is going. This is the certain hope of the redeemed. The Messianic kingdom of our Lord will be a glorious metamorphosis one day that will merge the old world under the rule of the Antichrist into the radically new world under the rule of Christ; a renovated, a reconstituted earth that will exist under new and perfect conditions. And then, may I remind you that when death is finally defeated--death being the last enemy--the mediatorial kingdom will merge into the universal kingdom. As Alva J. MClain said, quote, "The mediatorial kingdom of our Lord will constitute the glorious consummating era of the first order of things and will serve as the divine bridge between the temporal order and the eternal order." End quote. And Paul spoke of this in First Corinthians 15, beginning of verse 24. "...then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death." And then in verse 28, "When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all." What a glorious promise. The mediatorial kingdom will no longer exist as a separate entity from the universal kingdom of God, but rather as an everlasting part of it. But may I remind you that even after the millennial kingdom, the Lord is going to continue to reign, but not on a separate throne, not a messianic throne, and the other, the Father's throne. Instead, the two will reign together in perfect unity. We read of this, Revelation three verse 21, "'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." So there's a little bit of an overview of where all of this is ultimately going, hitting some of the highlights of eschatology.

Now, let's return to the historical record here of our Lord's royal entrance and false coronation. Again, this is an official offer that had to be made to the nation, as a whole, to determine their final decision. As we read in Scripture, this was the time of Israel's final visitation to receive their king. But because they will ultimately reject their Messiah, the kingdom is going to be temporarily withdrawn and postponed on Earth awaiting a day, yet future, when he returns. Now, before I get into the weeds here of some of this text that is really fascinating, I want to answer a question that someone posed, and it's a fair question. How could Jesus offer kingdom blessings to these people? How could that be a genuine offer when he knew that they were going to reject it? Well, first of all, a holy God cannot lie. And so he would never say something to trick people or to deceive them, nor would he ever need to do so. First Peter two verse 22, we read that Christ, "committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth." So it wasn't like he was trying to trick them or deceive them in any way. Moreover, the kingdom blessings of the Abrahamic covenant were always conditioned upon Israel's national repentance and belief, something that only God could almost ultimately accomplish in them through the regenerating work of the Spirit of God. For example, in Leviticus 26, beginning in verse 40. We read, "If they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me--I was also acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies--or," he goes on to say, "if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land."

So of course, Jesus' kingdom offer to Israel was genuine, even though he knew they would reject it. I mean, think about it--is God's offer of salvation and eternal life disingenuous when it is presented to those he knows will reject it? Of course not. In Genesis two, you will recall that God offered Adam life if he obeyed by not eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But death if he disobeyed, which he did. And God in his sovereignty and omniscience, knew that he would. I might even add that the necessity of Christ's saving work on the cross was decreed in eternity past. So it's not like if Adam hadn't have sinned, then Christ would have never gone to the cross. So again, God's sovereign plan even involved Adam sin; he knew that that would happen, and yet Adam had a real choice. So again, God's offer of salvation was genuine.

If I can give you another example, it was God's plan all along for David to be the one through whom the Messiah would come and the eternal dynasty over Israel ultimately exist. And yet, in First Samuel 13, verses 13 through 14, we read that God would have given Saul a permanent kingdom over Israel if he had obeyed; a genuine offer. But Saul disobeyed. And yet that did not mean that God's offer was disingenuous. So again, Christ's entrance into Jerusalem was a genuine, official and final, offer to the nation as a whole, to determine their final decision.

Now, something else is important as we approach this text, and I want you to get your mind wrapped around the scene here. Those of you that have been to Israel, you can kind of see in your mind's eye where the Lord would have been, you must understand that the Lord Jesus Christ did not enter his city with joy. But he did so with immense sorrow, with tears running down his cheeks. In Luke 19 verse 41, and following, we read about this. "And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the day shall come upon you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade before you and surround you and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.'" And of course, that happened literally a few years later, on April 9th 70, AD. Titus laid siege, actually in the summer, he slowly starved the inhabitants. And the Romans systematically slaughtered all of them, attacking one part of the city at a time. By the way, many of the people that heard Jesus and were there at the triumphal entry, endured that and died there. They utterly destroyed the temple. And they took many captives to Rome to be mocked and butchered in the Roman circus and gladiatorial bouts.

So with all that background, now we come to Mark 11 verse one, "As they approached Jerusalem at Bethpage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives." Let's pause here. Remember now multitudes, literally 1000s of people are with Jesus, following him from Jericho. They're going to the Passover and many others from Bethpage, which was a small village close to Bethany, which was the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus where he had been. John 12, beginning of verse one, we read that Jesus visited them six days before the Passover. No doubt he wanted to find comfort in fellowship, to find strength in fellowship, knowing that he was about to be the Passover lamb that would be slain. And again, this now is Passover. 1000s of Jewish faithful are making their annual pilgrimage. In fact, census records of that era 10 years later, tells us that there were 2.6 million worshipers with 260,000 lambs that were slaughtered, which would be a minimum, one for every 10 people. And there's every reason to believe that there was more than that, there on that day when Jesus came. So that's the scene here.

"As they approach Jerusalem, at Bethpage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples and said to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.'" Dear friends, such foreknowledge and omniscience is yet another illustration of the deity of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse three, 'If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' you say, 'The Lord has need of it'; and immediately he will send it back here.' They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside the street; and they untied it. Some of the bystanders were saying to them, 'What are you doing, untying the colt?' And they spoke to them, just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it. And many spread their coats in the road and others spread leafy branches, which they had cut from the fields."

Now, I have preached on this before, some of you will remember what I'm about to say, but it's important for you to see something that's going on here. First of all, you've got two donkeys, you've got a mare, and a colt; they would have probably been the same size. Mark and Luke also tell us very specifically that no one has ever sat upon the coat. Now, why is this significant? Being raised with horses, and having worked with training horses, I can tell you that it would be an absolute miracle for someone, for anyone, to sit on a coal that has never been ridden. You would hope that there'd be some real soft ground around there because you're going to be on it in just a moment. It's interesting, in Genesis nine, God warned Noah of a drastic change that was going to take place that he would experience with the animals on the ark. He said in verse two, and "'The fear of you and the terror of you shall be on every beast of the earth.'" And certainly, that is what happened when the animals got off; it's part of the curse, we see that to this day. All creatures are terrified of man. And you must understand that donkeys are herbivores. They're also highly intelligent. But herbivores are naturally afraid of carnivores. I am a carnivore, I love meat. You are carnivores, too. We can eat some of the other stuff, but we especially like meat. Now, another thing that's interesting, if you know anything about donkeys, is they have excellent eyesight, and excellent hearing abilities. And they are able to smell things highly developed sense of smell. They're quick to spot predators. And you've probably heard them when they do they sound ridiculous with their baying. We've got five of them that live 500 yards from us. And every time a coyote or anything gets near, you'll hear that ridiculous sound. And that's why you see, by the way, many people around here and they're in their fields with their cattle, they'll have a couple of donkeys because the donkeys are able to protect them from wild dogs, coyotes. They've even been known to kill mountain lions. So these are serious little fellas but they're also; they also have an issue, because they are so sensitive to predators. They have a very difficult time trusting human beings; they live in constant fear because of the curse. Now you think about all of this with what the text says, you know, try putting a human garment, that to a horse or a donkey smells like a carnivore, try putting that--just put the garment on them, I mean, that's where you're gonna have to start and watch what they will do. And then try riding that young male donkey, who thinks all of a sudden, he's on the menu for dinner. A donkey that's never been ridden. And then let's add to that, let's take all of these carnivore's robes, garments, and let's put them on the road and ask him to walk on them. And let's even add to that, all kinds of these palm leaves. And to make it really interesting, let's have 1000s of people stand next to him, and scream and shout and wave palm branches. Folks, I can tell you that even a highly trained crowd control police horse would freak out with all of that. But obviously, the creator calmed his little creature down and was able to mount him and to ride him. I believe dear friends, what we see here is a foretaste of millennial blessing. That promised time of restoration and regeneration, both physically and spiritually when the King returns in all of his glory, for example, Isaiah 11, beginning in verse six gives us a glimpse of that. It will be a time when, "the wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den." You see, this will be a time of national restoration for Israel. This will be the time of the kingdom age the disciples and multitudes were longing for. This is why they were shouting "Hosanna!" thinking that Jesus now is going to inaugurate this kingdom. That glorious time when all of the redeemed will reign with Jesus, the Anointed One, as Daniel prophesied. In Daniel seven verse 27, "'Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'"

So Beloved, I believe that hidden here, in this amazing scenario, is an example of the power of Jesus to miraculously cancel the effects of the curse in this young donkey that had never been ridden. And this was a subtle affirmation that he is saying, in essence, yes, I am the Almighty, I am the creator. I am the promised Messiah, the one who will one day accomplish all that I have promised. The pristine happiness and peace of Eden in the time of the regeneration, a time of tranquility that's even evidenced here, in this little scenario with the donkey.

And he goes on verse eight again, "And many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields." By the way, throwing your garments on the road was an ancient custom whereby king's subjects would do this as a demonstration of their utter submission to the lordship of their ruler. And palm branches, in that day, and biblically, are always symbolic of the joy of salvation. So imagine the scene, this enormous multitude, that's in front of Jesus, and behind Jesus, and they're shouting, verse nine, "Hosanna!" to the Son of David. "Hosanna" means "save now", son of David. An exclamation of both supplication, as well as adoration. "Blessed it is he who comes in the name of the Lord." And there is a quotation from Psalm 118 and verse six; part of six Psalms known as the Hallel. "Hallel, meaning "praise." And these psalms were sung at Passover, celebrating their deliverance from Egypt.

So they're thinking in their mind, here's Jesus now, and he's going to save us from Rome; not save us from our sins so we can become fit citizens to enter into the kingdom, but to save us from Rome. Here's the great miracle worker, the one that has fed 1000s; that has cast out demons, healed the sick. Here's the one who has given sight to the blind, even raised the dead. Surely this is the one who will now deliver us from Roman bondage. Surely this is the one now that will meet all of our physical needs, bringing the long-awaited kingdom. You know, as you think about this, it's like many people today who believe in a fabricated Jesus for the wrong reasons. People that are more concerned about temporal blessings than eternal blessings; they have no thought of eternity. And certainly these people, ancient Jewish people, felt like they were good to go for the kingdom. After all, they're sons of Abraham, they keep the law, etcetera, etcetera. They had no conviction of personal sin. No understanding that because of sin, they're separated from a holy God, and that they were in desperate need of being reconciled, and the only one that could reconcile them would be the Lord Jesus Christ. They didn't understand that. People today don't understand that. People today like people then, are looking for what they believe would be a well-deserved utopia.

In fact, the people shouting here in the first century were kind of like, I guess you could say, the original entitlement generation. But like most people today, they did not bow down and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. And I shudder to think of the eternal judgment that awaits. Those people even today, the god mocking politicians and professors of our day, that promote all of the blasphemous deceptions that are part of our culture, intersectionality and radical feminism, the critical race theory. Oh, how these people need the gospel, dear friends. How they need the gospel and how we should love them for the sake of the gospel and give them the gospel. Let them see the gospel in our lives. The social justice warriors, Black Lives Matter, anarchists, prosperity preachers. The ayatollahs and every other religious phony that mocks Christ. Vile men and women who prey upon desperate, and yet depraved souls, concerned only with the things of this world. And so many people go to church looking for a Jesus that's going to somehow meet all of those physical earthly needs with no thought of who he really is. And no thought of the desperate need that they have to be saved by his grace.

Verse nine, "Those who went in front and those who were following, were shouting: 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; blessed is the coming kingdom of our father, David; Hosanna, in the highest!'" And yet again, they failed to understand that Jesus did not come the first time to be crowned, but to be crucified; to be an atonement for sin, that people who believe in Him could be reconciled to a holy God because of his imputed righteousness, because we have none of our own. And tragically, they failed to make the connection even with Zechariah nine and verse nine where we read "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; he is just in having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey; a colt, the foal of a donkey."

They fail to understand that even their religious leaders In Israel--the scribes and the Pharisees, the Sadducees-- even those people had fabricated a deliverer of their own making. One that bore no resemblance to who Christ really was. And that's why they hated him. And certainly they did not know as they're shouting "Hosanna" that Jesus had initiated all of this as a judgment against them, causing them to affirm his messianic credentials. With full throat exuberance, crying out "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!" And yet by the end of the week, they will say we will not have this man reign over us, "Crucify Him." Sadly, many today do the same thing.

I want you to notice the first thing that Jesus did when he entered Jerusalem. Very important, verse 11, "Jesus entered Jerusalem, and came into the temple." You see, this was his priority. This was his destination. And then we read, "and after looking around at everything, he left for Bethany with the 12, since it was already late." So he, I guess you could say, is reconnoitering the temple. He comes, he sees what's there. Of course, he already knew. But he looks at it. And all of this sets the stage for what's going to happen the next day when he assaults the temple and occupies its precincts.

Let me give you a little preview of where this is going to take us as I wrap this up this morning. What Jesus saw was disgusting. What Jesus saw, was blasphemous. Later in verse 17, we read "'Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a robbers' den.'" You see, it had become a place where phony religious leaders and their merchant associates would exploit worshippers by charging exorbitant fees for sacrificial animals. And to make it even worse, they would charge exorbitant fees to exchange their foreign currency. So they had a real racket going on. And you see, the temple was supposed to be a place of sanctity and worship. Why? Because God's presence was to be manifested there. This was his father's house. This was always the heart of Israelite worship. It was instituted by God. The temple was the place where his word was taught. And his infinite perfections were manifested, and exalted. But hypocrites and greedy con artists had taken over its precincts and its teachings. You know, Jesus saw this even at the beginning of his earthly ministry. Remember in John two, verses 13 through 16, we read that for at least a day he physically occupied the precincts of the temple grounds, and he evicted the corrupt merchants from the temple courts. And you must understand that all of this is a graphic picture of Israel's apostasy and her need to repent, which Jesus preached throughout his ministry. His message was always one of genuine worship. But that could only work through repented faith in the person in the work of Christ.

Here I'm reminded of what happened, even at the onset of Christ's ministry. You remember, in Matthew four, verse one we read, that he was "led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil," remember that? And that was the same place where Israel was tempted and tested and failed. But where Christ now the Messiah succeeds. And then next in Matthew four beginning of verse five, we read this, "Then the devil took Him into the holy city, and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command His angels concerning you.' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Think about this, why would Satan take Jesus to the temple? The answer is simple. Because that's where the presence of his father existed. It was sacred, it was precious to him. And what father would only let his son perish. That's Satan's whole goal in that scene. But if Jesus had cast himself into his father's protective care, he would have exploited the privilege of his sonship that he had set aside in his humiliation. Moreover, he would have acted independently from the will of his Father. And thus forfeited his status as the spotless Lamb of God, and thus violate the plan of God. My point with this little illustration is to simply underscore how precious the temple was and is to Jesus. Satan understood that. Satan knew how Jesus' great love for his father would be a powerful influence on him. And how the most precious place on earth to be near that protective love would be the temple. In fact, I find it interesting. Jesus first recorded words in the Gospel were in response to his parent's question concerning his continued presence in the temple, Luke 2:49. They're looking for him and he says to them, "'Why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house."' And it's no wonder why Jesus disciples reacted the way they did when Jesus ran the money changers out of the temple the first time at the beginning of his ministry. In John 2:15, we read, "His disciples remembered that is it is written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'" Oh, dear friends, would that we share his zeal for genuine worship? A genuine love for the truth.

Now, while the temple was the centerpiece of Israel's worship, where God's people went to worship Him, through the mediation of a priest, the church is now described as the temple of God in the New Testament. Jesus is the builder. The apostle Paul uses temple imagery to depict believers both independently as well as corporately. We read how the church is a spiritual edifice, the abode of the Holy Spirit. In fact, in First Timothy 3:15, we read that it is, "the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the support of the truth." And in the New Testament, we read how we are living stones in God's temple. We offer spiritual sacrifices, right? But sadly, many in the church today are like the first century Israelites who praise Jesus for what they believe he can do for them on Earth; for they have no understanding, no desire to worship the Father in spirit and in truth in the church. And sadly, many churches cater to this. They become centers for entertainment, promoters of superficial, even false worship; are a place where entrepreneurs that disguise themselves as pastors can make millions of dollars. And, folks, we've got to all guard ourselves against this personally, as well as corporately. But I want you to remember that during the Tribulation, another temple is going to be built. A third temple and it will be desecrated by the Antichrist; you read about this in Christ's Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. You also read about it in a Second Thessalonians two. And then after that, when the Lord returns, a fourth temple will be built by the Lord Himself, in the millennial kingdom. You read about that, for example, in Ezekiel chapter 43. In fact, Jesus actions, as we're going to see, in cleansing the temple, were really an initial fulfillment of Messiah, purifying the religious worship of his people. Malachi speaks of this at the end of the Old Testament, talking about when the Lord returns in Malachi three, beginning in verse one, "'Behold, I am going to send My messenger and he will clear the way before Me'"--referring to John the Baptist. "'And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,' says the Lord of hosts. 'But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.'" Oh, what a glorious day that will be. As the Prophet said, a day when "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." My how I long for that day. To get out of all of this corruption and filth and deception, and immorality, and chaos and violence.

And then finally, when the messianic kingdom comes to an end, at the conclusion of that 1000 year reign, we read in the Bible prophecies that Satan will be released from the abyss. And he will lead a final rebellion against Christ in the holy city of Jerusalem. We read how God will then destroy the rebels with fire from heaven, and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire forever, Revelation 20. And then we read how God will uncreate the universe, a complete annihilation, Second, Peter 3:10, for example. There we read, "the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up." In verse 13, he goes on to say, "But according to His promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 24, verse 35, "'Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.'" And then we read how a new Jerusalem will come. It'll be the capital city of the new earth, Revelation 21 and verse two; imagine that scene. But there will be no temple in the eternal state, no more temple. Revelation 21, beginning in verse 22, the Apostle says, "I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb." It's as if we will be living in the Holy of Holies.

Well, may I challenge each of you to worship the Lord Jesus Christ for who he truly is. He is the Messiah King. He is the Savior of all who trust in Him. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, who will return as he has promised, who will judge the nation's and judge all who mock him, who ignore him, who live as if he does not exist. Would to God that you not be amongst those. For one day, you will stand before him, either in triumph or in terror, but your knee will bow, as will mine. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Because he is Lord, dear friends, we must bow before him every day of our life we should worship him. And our worship includes our love for him, our love for others even the lost; our love for his Word, our desire to have intimate communion and fellowship with him in the secret devotion of prayer. We should praise him, offer him our gratitude, our obedience, or service. We should hunger and we should thirst for righteousness because one day we will see Him face to face. And I long for that day. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word. Thank you that we can worship you, truly, in spirit and in truth. Thank you that we know who Jesus really is. Not because we're so smart, or we're so good. For none of those things are true. But we know these things because of the Spirit wrought regeneration within our souls. Because by your grace, you gave us eyes to see. And you have given us your word, and your spirit that illuminates your words so that we can understand it, and we can apply it to our lives. So for this, we are eternally grateful. And we long for our Lord to come and to take us away. But until he does, may we be found faithful and serving him. We ask all of this in the precious name of Jesus, our Savior and for his sake. Amen.