Open your Bibles, if you would,
to the book of Lamentations. We'll look at one verse in the
book of Lamentations, Lamentations right after Jeremiah. In Lamentations
chapter one, turn there if you would. Oh my, we'll read one
verse, speaking of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his
suffering on Calvary's cross. Lamentations chapter one, verse
12, it says this, Here's a question to us and to all the world. Is it nothing to you, all ye
that pass by? Behold and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. My, so marvel at this verse. It brings forth the suffering
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And note in this verse, it says,
wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger,
beloved. The anger of the Lord, the righteous
anger too, remember that. The righteous anger of God fell
upon Christ in our room and place, beloved. Oh my. And the only way we were to be
redeemed was Christ giving his life for us, beloved. And oh,
what hope and comfort we can We can see in this verse, oh
my, for the weary born-again blood-washed believer, we go
through trials and tribulations and temptations, but oh my, the
Lord Jesus Christ died as our substitute, and we need to just
keep looking to him, don't we? Oh God, give us faith to keep
looking to you, Lord Jesus. Give us strength and grace to
keep looking to you, look away from the world and the things
in this world, and look to Thee, and what a hope we have in Christ. And may the Holy Spirit of God
comfort us as believers on Jesus Christ, our Lord, as we look
at this verse, and we see the suffering Savior beloved. And
He suffered for our sins, my sin. And if you're a believer,
your sin, He's sinless. He's a sinless, spotless Lamb
of God. As a matter of fact, John, which
we'll look at in the second message, John says, Behold the Lamb of
God which taketh away the sin of the world. Oh, so here we
see our suffering Savior. And this is, look at this. Is
it nothing to you all? Ye, all ye that pass by. There
was a time when Christ meant nothing to us. There was a time. Behold and see if there any sorrow
like unto my sorrow. Beloved, oh, beloved. The sorrow
our Savior suffered is unlike any sorrow in this world. He
says, see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is
done unto me, the sinless, spotless one. What was done unto him?
Wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
God poured his wrath out upon him, the sinless, spotless lamb
of God, for my sins and for yours, if you're a believer. Isn't that
incredible? Oh my, what hope we have here. This is God incarnate
in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on Calvary's
cross to redeem, to ransom, which means to redeem, to purchase
our eternal souls. And how did he do it? With his
precious blood, beloved. Oh my. Oh, my. And may we continue to look to
him and marvel, marvel as we see a question by our Lord that
brings forth the depths of what our Lord suffered when he gave
his life for us. He says, is it nothing to you
all, all ye that pass by? Is it nothing? Oh, my. I ask you, beloved. Is there
any greater love? Is there any greater manifestation
of love than this in the world? No way. No way. Even our greatest love for those
who we love the greatest, this love, our love doesn't even come
close to what's revealed here. He was afflicted for my sin. He was afflicted for the sins
of his people. He came to save us from our sins. And how did he do it? Well, he
did it by giving himself a ransom, as a ransom for God's people.
And God poured out his wrath upon him in our room and place.
Is there any greater manifestation of the love of God? No. So marvel,
marvel at this. And also remember this too. What
else does this verse show us? This verse shows us that our
Lord suffered in the flesh. Now he's sinless, we're sinners. He's sinless, but he, listen
to this, I love this in Hebrews, listen to this. It starts in
verse 14 of chapter four and it goes to verse 16. Seeing that
we have a great high priest, that's Christ, that is passed
into the heavens, he's risen again. He'd be raised for our
justification. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
let us hold fast our profession, professing that Christ is our
only savior. Oh, and we're saved by his blood,
through his perfect sin atoning work alone. For we have not an
high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we were, we are yet without
sin. Let us therefore, oh, what a
privilege, let us therefore, Come boldly unto the throne of
grace. That why? That we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We have a savior
who suffered. We suffer when we go through
trials. We suffer when we go through temptation. We suffer
when we go through health problems, heartache, afflictions of the
mind, afflictions of the body. Oh my, but he says here, See
if there's any soil like unto my soil. The everlasting wrath
of God that was due, we who are his people, an innumerable amount
of people was poured out fully on Christ. And he was sinless. That scripture
in the Hebrew says, he was tempted like we were, we are yet without
sin. Whatever the mournful prophet's
views were of the church's sorrow, because this is after Jeremiah,
and it's the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Whatever sorrow they
were feeling when he wrote his book of Lamentations, surely
that soul never had its full portion poured out but in the
cup of trembling that the Lord Jesus, remember the Lord Jesus
Christ, I like what Spurgeon said, he said, he took the cup
of damnation and he drank it dry. So that we might be free,
beloved. So that we might be safe from
all our sins. Oh, my goodness. Oh, Lord Jesus,
we praise you and thank you. You who are our savior, thank
you for suffering in our room and place, Lord Jesus. Oh my,
thank you for suffering the wrath of God that was due us in our
room and place. We say praise your mighty name
and we praise you, Lord Jesus, for fully satisfying your justice. It was Christ's justice, right?
It was Christ's law that had to be fulfilled. He fulfilled
it fully. So much so, justice is so satisfied
that the Father says that I shall see the travail of his soul and
shall be satisfied. Oh, so much so, too. Oh, so much
so, too, that God will remember our sins no more. My, my, praise
you, Lord Jesus, for satisfying fully your justice in your death
as you suffered like no other upon the cross. And we who are
your bloodthirsty people, what are we going to be? We're eternally
grateful, aren't we? We're grateful now that we're
on this earth, but you know we're going to be eternally grateful,
beloved. Eternally grateful. Oh, from manger to the cross,
our Lord Jesus was hated without a cause. From the manger to the
cross. There's no room for him in the
end. No room. No room. He was hated for a cause,
and yet he endured all that suffering. Why? To redeem his people from
their sins. His everlasting love is manifested,
isn't it? It's manifested to we who are
his people. his everlasting love for his
bride. And he redeemed us by his perfect
sin atoning death on Calvary's cross when he shed his blood
to ransom the souls of his people. And again, from the manger to
the cross, every path was suffering as he manifested his great eternal
love for his people. As a result of the fall of Adam,
the earth now brings forth thorns and thistles, but marvel, as
the Lord Jesus Christ has taken away the curse of the law that
was against we who are his people. Oh, because the scripture says,
for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.
You know why he did that? You know why Christ died on the
cross? That the blessings of Abraham, that the blessings of
Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we
might receive the promise of the spirit through faith, that
we might be saved, that we might be born again. He saved us from
our sins 2000 years ago. Isn't that incredible, beloved?
Listen to this, Galatians 3, 13 to 14. Christ hath redeemed us. Notice
that? I love that word, hath. It's done. It's done. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. Be made a curse for us, for it
is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ. that we might receive the promise
of the spirit through faith. Praise his mighty name, beloved. Oh, it's wonderful. I'll tell
you why. So marvel, beloved of God, is all the father's wrath
in the full vials of his anger against our sin fell upon Christ,
was poured out upon Christ, beloved. Poured out upon and emptied on
Christ. He, our sins were imputed to
him, beloved, and praise God, his perfect righteousness is
imputed to us. My, oh my, my. Marvel, as he
bore the everlasting wrath of God that was against every one
of his chosen people, and it fell upon him. It fell upon him,
and we see that in the words of our text, wherewith the Lord
has afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. God's angry
with the wicked. Oh my, he's not up there winking
at sin. No, there'll be a great day of
reckoning, won't there? Oh, did He sustain and bear all
the wrath that was against His people? Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ
bore our sins, they were imputed to Him, and the penalty that
was due us, the eternal wrath of God, fell upon our King, fell
upon our Savior, fell upon our Deliverer, fell upon our Redeemer,
beloved. Oh, my. And the reason being
that we who are the redeemed might be delivered from all our
sins. And he said, it is finished. Oh, my beloved. Marvel, beloved
of God, that the one who redeemed us was the son of God who became
a man, the man Christ Jesus. the second person of the Trinity.
He came from heaven, beloved. He came from heaven to redeem
us from all our sins and marvel that God himself, God himself
has redeemed us from all our sins because of the agony of
our sins being placed upon him. Do you know he sweat great drops
of blood? But listen to these amazing words
that he uttered. Our sins are being placed upon
him. He's sweating great drops of blood. In Matthew 26 verses
38 to 39, our king, the master, the Lord Jesus Christ, God in
the flesh says this, then saith he unto me, my soul is exceedingly
sore for even unto death, tarry ye here and watch with me. He
says that to his apostles. And he went a little further
and fell on his face and prayed saying, oh father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt." Oh, my. And marvel at this. Marvel at
this, beloved. God forsook his only begotten
son. God the Father forsook his only
begotten son, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. God in
the flesh, he forsook him that we might never be forsaken. Oh, my. Listen to the cry of
our king's soul. My God, my God, why has thou
forsaken me? God forsook God. Oh, that we
might be never, ever be forsaken. I ask you, beloved, with that
cry, with him uttering, with that, oh, Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will.
But as thou wilt, then my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? I ask you, has there ever been
sorrow like this? Oh my. Has there ever been sorrow
like what our Lord Jesus Christ suffered to redeem his people
from their sins? Beloved, this is the greatest
manifestation of love and what a hope we have. Our hope is in
God himself, God in the flesh. My, oh, my. Marvel at this. Now, if you are not one of God's
born-again blood-washed people, I ask you this. Have you ever
seen sorrow such as this? Have you ever seen sorrow such
as this? Is the death of Christ nothing
to you? We who are God's born-again blood-washed saints were but
sinners saved by grace. We were just like you. We were
just like you. Oh, come to Christ. Come to Christ, you who are careless
and unconcerned. Come to Christ, you who make
a mockery of sin. Come, you drunkards and defiled
of every description. Come to He who has saved sinners
and still is saving sinners. Oh, may God make you willing
to flee to Christ. And listen to this verse, these
verses, if you do not know Christ. This tells you the kind of people
God saves, sinners. Listen to this, 1 Corinthians
6, verses 9 and 10. Listen to these amazing words.
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And listen to
this. And such were some of you. In such, I see myself in that
list before I was saved, do you? Oh, my. In such were some of
you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
spirit of our God. We're born again, washed in the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved of God is not
the Lord Jesus Christ everything to us. Oh, praise you, dear Jesus,
who we see by faith the bleeding Lamb of God, whose precious blood
has washed us from all our sins. Oh, may we who are the people
of God meditate upon our Savior's death in our room and place on
Calvary's cross. And may Christ Jesus, our Lord,
be our chief joy, the one who we look to, our hope, our deliverer,
our redeemer, our shield, our buckler, our defense. are all
in all. Amen and amen.