Intro to ‘Do You Know
My King?’
Intro by John R.
Houk, Blog Editor
April 13, 2019
By Justin O. Smith
Sunday April 14th is Palm Sunday. That day is one
week before the Resurrection of Jesus Christ – Easter Sunday. On Palm Sunday
Jesus rides a donkey colt into Jerusalem – the City of David – as a triumphant
King:
11 Now when
they drew near Jerusalem, to [a]Bethphage
and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; 2 and
He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you
have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it
and bring it. 3 And if anyone says to
you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately
he will send it here.”
4 So they
went their way, and found [b]the
colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. 5 But
some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the
colt?”
6 And they
spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. 7 Then
they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on
it. 8 And many spread their clothes on the road,
and others cut down leafy branches from the trees [Blog Editor: For clarity on the “branches” see John
12: 13 NKJV] and spread them on the road. 9 Then
those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
“Hosanna!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David
That comes [c]in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11: 1-10 NKJV)
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David
That comes [c]in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11: 1-10 NKJV)
Justin Smith finds his keyboard pulpit and delivers an
excellent Easter message about the Redemptive work of the Risen Savior, Jesus
the Christ.
By Jon McNaughton
JRH 4/13/19
Your generosity is always appreciated:
**********************
Do You Know My King?
By Justin O. Smith
Sent 4/12/2019 6:23 PM
Sent 4/12/2019 6:23 PM
My Dear God, how hard life is, how easy life is, how great
life is for Us, sinners one and all. Our blessings great and small come to us
by Your hand, and our punishments too. You are great and we are small.
Men, women and children all revel in the wonders that abound
in this magnificent creation of Yours, and we rejoice in the miracle of our
salvation that we have received through the Blood of the Lamb and the sacrifice
Jesus performed upon the Cross.
The holy time of Easter Sunday is here once more, and
millions of Christians worldwide are preparing to celebrate the most
significant part of our faith and God's promise of "Life everlasting"
for those who profess their faith in Jesus, as the Son of God, God come to
earth in the flesh, and his death upon the Cross and his resurrection three
days later. Upon our deaths we will be welcomed into the Kingdom of
Heaven.
Let's also recall that Easter coincides with the Jewish
Passover holiday. The Last Supper was essentially a Passover feast. However, it
has been given new significance by the New Testament and Jesus's sharing his "body", the
bread, and his "blood", the wine, in a symbolic ritual
that marked the sacrifice Jesus was about to make through His death: This has
become a bedrock of the Christian faith.
Just as the Apostle Paul so clearly states in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, there
would be no salvation from our sins without the resurrection of Jesus:
"For I delivered unto you first of
all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins ... And that
he was buried, and that he rose again the third day ... that he was seen of
Cephas, then of the twelve: ... he was seen of above five hundred brethren at
once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen
asleep. ... that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of
all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time."
As many around the globe prepare for the Easter Vigil, let
us all rejoice and celebrate in the love and happiness we have found through
our own individual faith and personal relationship with our God. Remember the
joy of Jesus's followers as he entered Jerusalem and they greeted him with palm
leaves laid across the road.
To quote one of the best preachers I've ever heard, during a
sermon
in 1976 in Detroit, Dr. Shadrach Meshach Lockridge observed that Jesus is "the King of the Jews ... the King of Israel
... the King of Righteousness ... the King of the Ages ... the King of Heaven
... the King of Glory ... the King of Kings and He is the Lord of Lords ... Now
that's my King". And then he asked, "Well, I wonder if you know Him.
Do You know Him?”
No barriers can prevent Him from delivering His blessings to
us all. Our God -- the One True God -- is enduringly strong, completely
sincere, eternally steadfast, immortally graceful, imperially powerful and
impartially merciful.
In a strong and certain voice, Dr Lockridge declares
unequivocally:
"[God] supplies strength for the
weak. He's available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He
saves. ... He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. ...
He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He
serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He
beautifies the meek."
Will You be prepared when the Man [God] comes around
"takin' names ... [deciding] who to free and who to blame", as my
dear Ol' Friend Johnny Cash used to ask by way of song?
Just as all men's days are numbered here on Earth, so too
are the days numbered until the Last days, the Final Confrontation between Good
and Evil and Armageddon.
Revelations 6:7-8 tells us:
"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name
that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed him. And power was given unto them
over the part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with
death, and with the beasts of the earth."
There's a clear division between those who are saved and
those who are not. Nicodemus was afraid and ashamed to be seen with Jesus; and
during a conversation, found in John 3:3, "Jesus
answered and said unto him, verily, verily [truthfully], I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
In its madness the world opposes and harasses the righteous,
because the atheistic, secular humanist world seems to hate us. The world
resists us and resents us revealing its sins against His teachings. The
Righteous condemn the evil of the world. Merely to watch the ungodly and
heathens is a hardship; their own wickedness betrays them, and so they cannot
hear the hidden counsels of God.
Daniel 5:27 tells us, "...Thou
art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting."
St. Augustine left this truth: "... our hearts are restless until they rest on
God."
The Pharisees hated Jesus, but they couldn't stop Him.
Pilate found no fault in Him. The false witnesses were obviously false. Herod
couldn't kill Him. The grave opened its doors to Him and Death couldn't hold
Him.
Do You know my King?
If one wants Life Everlasting, do not embrace the potter's
ground [Matthew 27:3-8] when the Man comes around. See not
"the terror in each sip and in each
sup" [and] "partake of that
last offered cup". "And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and
gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new
testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Matthew 26:27-28
Say it with me. Oh God, Thine is the kingdom the power and
the glory. All the power belongs to my King. People can speak of black power,
red power, yellow power and white power, but there's only power through Our God
and His power. Thine is the power; Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the
glory, forever and ever. Amen.
By Justin O. Smith
_____________________
Edited by John R. Houk
Source links are by the Editor.
© Justin O. Smith
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