What a prayer. I want to begin
by reminding us all of what the Apostle was led to say. again and again and again, that
the scriptures might be fulfilled. The scriptures might be fulfilled. You have in your lap the word
of God. A word, the word of God, which
declares the word made flesh and declares the glory of Him
coming and why He came. These scriptures have come down
from heaven. When you read in 1 Corinthians
15 verse 1 it talks about how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures. That word according means to
come down from. They've come down. They've come
down from heaven. They've come down to man. And
they're words that are written in the hearts of God's people.
And they're words that speak of our God and His character,
our God and His purpose, our God and His salvation. Don't
you love the fact that this book in your hand declares the Lord
Jesus Christ? That's all it declares, isn't
it? This is a book about Him. All of the scriptures speak of
the glories of Christ. the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that shall follow. The scriptures speak of me. This
is a book about the Lord Jesus Christ written by God the Holy
Spirit. And so what a precious word.
How wonderful it is that it's so true. How wonderful it is
that we're reading these scriptures here that were written Thousands
and thousands of years beforehand, from the very beginning of man's
time on this earth, these words were written about the bone of
him that had not been broken. But don't you love the fact that
the Scriptures were fulfilled all before his incarnation, but
they were fulfilled in his incarnation, in his being born. You can read
about that in all of the Old Testament Scriptures. They declare
that this seed of a woman is going to have this one that crushes
the serpent's head, and he's from the lineage of David's seed.
Before his birth, in the earliest moments of his life, all the
events of his Him being born in Bethlehem. What was the last
thing that Mary and Joseph wanted to do? If you loved a heavily
pregnant lady, the last thing you wanted to do was go on a
long, long journey from all the way up in the north of Israel
down to Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem. And yet that's where the Lord
Jesus Christ had to be born. And then he had to go to Egypt
and then he had to return to Nazareth. And then in the events
of his life and his death that we've been looking at recently,
we see the the fact that the Scriptures
are being fulfilled after he died. That's what we're looking
at here today. That man, that soldier, that
Roman soldier, he did that out of malice when he took that spear
and he shoved it into the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
didn't have the foggiest notion that he was doing exactly what
God had ordained and God had written thousands of years beforehand. His burial in a rich man's tomb,
His resurrection and His ascension and His reign. It's all written,
isn't it? We have the scriptures. It's how sure this word is. When we go to this word from
God, we have a sure word of prophecy. It's a sure word. They speak
of Him. They speak of Him. We have a
treasure. The scriptures are a treasure. So let's go back to John 19.31
and read these scriptures. Verse 31. The Jews therefore, because it
was the preparation that the bodies should not remain on the
cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath day was a high day,
besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might
be taken away. Here are these religious people
at the highest festival of all of their year, wanting people
to die so that they wouldn't be, their death and their hanging
on a cross wouldn't be an embarrassment to their religion. They wanted men dead that their
religious ceremony might not be defiled. And yet the Lord
Jesus Christ was numbered with the transgressors, Isaiah 53. Then verse 32, Then came the
shoulders and broke the legs of the first and of the other
which were crucified with him. The only way you could survive
on a cross, and because there were no vital organs damaged
on the cross, there was only the peripheral organs, your hands
and your feet. The only way you could breathe
was you pushed up on the nail that was driven through your
ankles, and that allowed you to breathe. And so breaking the
legs, they had a term for breaking the legs, meant that you just
hung there and you suffocated in no time at all. But when, verse 33, but when
they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, the Lord
Jesus Christ die. He bowed his mighty head
and he yielded up the ghost. They broke Noddy's legs, but
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith
came there out blood and water. This is John saying this. Wouldn't
it be a mercy if this was fulfilled amongst us today? He that saw
it bear record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that
he saith true. How often does John want to say,
I'm a faithful witness, I'm a faithful witness. We have the testimony
of God here by faithful witnesses. to say if that is true, that
you might believe. Over the page in John 20, these
are written, everything that John written was that you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ. Not that you believe about yourself.
Salvation is what you believe about the Lord Jesus Christ.
You might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you might have life through his name. John 20.31 The desire of all the writers
of Scripture and the desire of all of God's servants in this
world and the desire of all God's people in this world is that
other people might believe. They might believe to the saving
of their souls. They might believe. They might
believe and they might be gathered. God has given a record. 1 John chapter 5 is remarkable. God has given a record. John
is just recording the record that God gave. John 5, 1 John 5, 9, sorry. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. This is the witness of God which
he has testified of his Son. Listen, he that believeth on
the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth
not God hath made him a liar. He makes himself a liar. because
he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this
is the record that God has given to us, eternal life. This is the record. God has given
to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. And he that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. It's vital. It's vital for our
salvation that God causes us to believe. By grace you were
saved through faith. So let's go down to verse 36. And we'll look at the bones not
being broken. I just love thinking about this. That soldier could have gone
along there and just broken those bones. Why couldn't you break
those bones of the Lord Jesus Christ? Just to make really,
really sure. God stopped him. God ordains
and rules over all things. There are no coincidences, and
there is no such thing as luck, and there is no such thing as
chance. God does it all. What's the scripture that must
be fulfilled in the Passover? And these people were celebrating
the Passover at this time. In the one house, Exodus 12,
verse 46, and in one house shall this lamb be eaten. The blood
is sprinkled on the doorpost. God says, when I see the blood. The blood's on the outside. God's
looking for the blood of his son. When I see the blood, I
will pass over you. In the one house it shall be
eaten, this lamb. Thou shalt not carry forth out
of the flesh abroad out of the house. Neither shall you break
a bone thereof. And you'll leave none of it.
Numbers 9.12 says you'll leave none of it until the morning.
You eat the whole lot. You eat a full and complete Christ
and you shelter under his shed blood to be saved by God. Leave none of it until the morning,
nor break any bone of it. According to all the ordinance
of the Passover, they shall keep it. The Lord Jesus Christ in
Psalm 22 verse 14 said, I am poured out like water, and all
my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it is melted He says further on in Psalm 22
in verse 17, he says, these are the thoughts, these
are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ to his father from the
cross of Calvary. In verse 17 of Psalm 22, I may
tell all my bones. He may tell all his bones. He's
not talking about hanging on the cross and looking down and
looking across at his hands and looking down at his feet. Adam was created and what did
Adam say? What did the first Adam say when
Eve was created? Now, this is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because
she was taken out of man. Where was Adam wounded? In his
side. She was taken out of his side.
He's talking about He's talking about his church
who is his body. He's talking about his church. He is the head and she's the
body. John 17, you read John 17 again, it all speaks of union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a union, an intimate,
eternal, vital union between the Lord Jesus Christ and his
bride, and they are one. And on the cross of Calvary,
such is that union that he says over and over again in the Psalms,
their sins are my sins. Paul says I'm crucified with
Christ. That was what was happening on
the cross of Calvary. The Lord Jesus Christ was punished
and suffered the infinite wrath of God Almighty because all of
the sins of all of his bride who were united to him were laid
on him. burn of my bones and flesh of
my flesh. I love what he says in Isaiah
26 verse 19. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body
shall they arise. Thy dead shall live My dead body they shall arise,
if you take out the italicized words. And then he goes on to
say, Awake and sing ye that dwell in dust, for thy dew is the dew
of the herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Thy dead men shall live. Ezekiel was taken by God to that
valley of dry bones. We don't have time to read it
now. But that valley of dry bones were dead. It pictured the whole
church of God Almighty. There weren't some bones there
that were wriggling around, acting on the basis of their free will
to come to the Lord Jesus. They were all dead. Not only
dead, but they'd been parched and they were dry. You read Ezekiel
37. And they come alive through the
preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bone of his
bones and flesh of his flesh. And there's another scripture
that saith, the soldier with a spear pierced
his side, John 19, 34, and forthwith came out their blood and water. They shall look upon him whom
they pierced. In Psalm 22 verse 16 between
those other verses that we just read, for the dogs have compassed
me, the dogs have surrounded me, the assembly of the wicked
have enclosed me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. But this
is another piercing. He was pierced in his hands and
his feet. He was pierced in his head. But this is the piercing
in his side. And it was no small spear. In
the next chapter when Thomas comes doubting, he says, you
put your fist in there. What a wound there was into the
heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. Reproach has broken my heart.
I read it earlier from Joseph Hart. This fountain so dear,
he'll freely impart. Unlocked by a spear, it gushed
from the heart. With blood and with water, the
first to atone to cleanse us the latter, the fountain But
one. What's the scripture? The scripture
is in Zechariah, the second last book of the Old Testament. If
you turn there we'll have a briefly look at it. For want of time I envy the old
preachers and I am thankful that Several of you come to me and
say let's not hurry, let's not hurry. Zechariah 12 is the passage
that's being referred to. This is the scripture that must
be fulfilled. In Zechariah 12 verse 10 the Lord
says, Upon the house of David and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications,
supplications is please, a cry. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one
that is in bitterness for his first son. in the book of Revelation when
the Lord Jesus Christ returns. This same Jesus is coming back
in Revelation chapter 1 verse 7. It says, when he returns,
Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him,
and they also which pierced him. and all the kindreds of the earth
shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. Out of the wounded side, and
we know what the wound was. While you're in Zechariah, if
you turn over to verse 13, chapter 13, we know what the wound is.
The wound in verse 7 is the wound of the sword of the justice of
God Almighty. He says, Awake, O sword, against
my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow, my companion,
my equal, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered, and I will turn my hand, my hand of love
and grace upon the little one. I love what verse 9 says, and
I will bring the third part through the fire, and I will refine them
as silver is refined, and I will try them as gold is tried, and
they shall call upon my name, and I will my people, bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh, and they shall say, The Lord is my God." But
if you while you're there, if you turn back to the first verse
in verse 13 and we'll just look at what happened when that blood
and water came out. In that day, this one day, this
gospel day of salvation, in that day there shall be a fountain
opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
for, what's the fountain opened for? For sin and uncleanness. For sin and uncleanness. Why the blood? the sin. Why the water? The washing of regeneration. Sin. Why the two things that
came out from his heart? And you can look up all the medical
reasons for it, but that's not the issue. The issue is the spiritual
picture that's been told. It really did happen and there
are medical reasons for it happening when the pericardium is damaged. There is a two-fold problem that
we have. It's a two-fold problem that all of us have. and we all inherited in Adam
in the garden. Sin is what I do. Therefore I have a problem with
my guilt before God for what I have done. According to the scriptures,
sin is a noun. Sin is what I am. My problem is my nature. When the Lord Jesus Christ spoke
to those apostles that he's loved and speaking about gifts, he
says, you being evil. What an extraordinary description
of the apostles. They were evil, and they were
perfectly loved, and they were perfectly washed, and they were
perfectly redeemed. We have two problems. We have to have something done
for us, and we have to have something done in us. And those old hymn
writers, Knew it well, didn't they? Be of sin the double cure.
A double cure. Listen to what Titus says. After
the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward men appeared,
not by works of righteousness, Titus 3.5, not by works of righteousness
we have done, we haven't done any, but according to his mercy
he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing
of the Holy Ghost. We need washing and we need renewing. Let's go back to those scriptures
that we are directed to. And as we go there, I want us
to be reminded that this is the activity of the Lord Jesus Christ
as the Great High Priest. on the Day of Atonement, going
into the Holy of Holies. And if you go back and read Leviticus
16, you'll see that he had to wash. He had to wash himself. And then he had to take blood
in. I love what Hebrews chapter 10 says. Speaking of this covenant,
you have the guilt of sin and you must be born again, he said
to Nicodemus. You have the guilt of sin and
we have the problem of a nature that needs to be renewed. We
have a heart of stone that needs to be taken out and a heart of
flesh that needs to be put in so that we can see the love of
God, so that we can trust him, so we can rejoice in him, so
that we can taste and see that the Lord is good. We need a new
heart. We need new life from God for these scriptures to become
alive for us so that they are, as the Lord said, they become
to the children of God, they become spirit and life, John
6. This is the covenant, Hebrews
10.16, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those
days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts and in their minds will I write them, and their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission
of these is, there's no more offering for sin. Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way. Do you know what that means? Freshly slaughtered way. The blood of Christ is ever new.
which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that is
to say, his flesh. And having a high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a truer heart in full
assurance of faith. Listen to what he's done. Having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies We need the blood applied to
us. It's the washing of regeneration
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. So turn with me back to
Zechariah, and I'll try and be brief as we look at these amazing
verses, which John, led by the Holy Spirit, leads us to go and
look at and rejoice over, I trust, that Zechariah 12, verse 10. I will pour, it has to be poured
from God, I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications. He will pour. When his spirit
of grace comes, what happens? There is a pleading with God,
isn't If grace is poor, there will
be pleadings, and we've seen them in the New Testament. No
one came pleading to the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel accounts
and didn't go away healed and saved. Lord, save me. Lord, have mercy upon me. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. Lord, I am grievously vexed. We come to the Lord Jesus Christ
with weepings and pleadings and we call on his name. And where
do you find such comfort when you call on his name? You look
to a crucified Saviour and they shall. These are promises from
God Almighty. I will pour and they shall. Every single one of God's elect
children will have this poured upon them at some time in their
life and they shall cry and they shall look, every last one of
them. This is a promise from God Almighty.
Don't you love the preaching of the Gospel? It cannot be anything
other than 100% successful. All the time. All the time. His word comes down from heaven
And it reaches this earth and it goes back to Him having achieved
exactly what He sent it for all the time. All the time. I will
and they shall. Where do they find their comfort
these ones that cry? And they shall look upon Me whom
they have pierced. And they shall mourn for Him. as one mourneth for his only
son, and they shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for his firstborn. They'll know what their sin did
to the Saviour, and they'll know what the Saviour did for their
sin on the cross of Calvary. This is the spirit that he pours
out upon his people. Blessed are they that mourn. Why? For they shall be comforted. Where will they find their comfort?
In the crucified Saviour. And the fact that the Lord Jesus
Christ is there and nailed to that cross because he was bearing
their sins in his own body on the tree. There is only ever
true mourning for sin, and it's only ever the result of the Lord
pouring out His Spirit of grace and supplication. That's when
there'll be true repentance, when God grants repentance, a
change of mind about who we are, a change of mind about who God
is, a change of mind about how God saves sinners. And there'll
be mourning for sin, true mourning for sin, comes when you look
upon the crucified saviour and they never forget, they never
forget. And what happens finally, what
happens when this fountain is opened and this blood and the
water are applied to these new hearts that have cried and been
healed? In that day, Zechariah 13 verse
one, in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house
of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. What's it for?
For sin, And for uncleanness, a fountain opened. For sin, the
blood. For uncleanness, the water. Thank
God for this fountain. Who gets to bathe in the fountain? The text says really simply,
sinners get to bathe in the fountain. It's for sinners, the fountain's
for sinners. The fountain's not for the righteous.
People say, well, I'm too sinful to come. That's what the fountain's
for, for sinners. He says, come. I'm a repeat offender. The fountain's there for sinners.
I'm an open sinner. The fountain's there for sinners.
He came for sinners. He came for sinners. He didn't
come for the righteous. He came for sinners. He came
for the guilty. He came for the unclean. He came
for the lepers. There's a foul knave for sin
and uncleanness. You can't make yourself clean.
The only cleansing is in him. Our hearts are so desperately
wicked and beyond cure. We have an incurable disease
and who can know it? We don't just need a pardon,
but we need the complete removal of all my sin. And that was opened
in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what David was
looking for, wasn't it? I've sinned against you, and
you only. And don't you love what Nathan
said? You're not gonna die, David. The Lord has taken away your
sin. Where did he take it to? He took
it to the Lord Jesus Christ, and he put it upon him, and on
Calvary's tree he bore that sin away. Created me a clean heart,
O God. This has opened now. As God birthed
Eve from the side of Adam, so God birthed all the bride of
Christ from the Lamb slain. Now we are in this glorious time
in this world where that blood is still being applied and sinners
are still coming. And sinners are still crying,
and sinners are still looking, and they never stop looking until
they look into his face in heaven's glory. May that fountain be opened
and poured upon us here today. May the Lord Jesus Christ be
glorified in the salvation of his people. Amen.