No Sorrow Like Christ's Sorrow

Q: What does the Bible say about Christ's suffering?

Scripture reveals that Christ suffered immensely at the hands of men and under God's fierce anger for our sins. The Bible teaches that Christ's suffering was both physical and spiritual. He endured horrific torture from men, including beatings, crucifixion, and mockery, as vividly described in passages like Psalm 22. However, the greater anguish came from God the Father turning His back on the Son as He bore the sins of His people. This profound suffering is unlike any other, as it encompassed not only the physical torment but the weight of divine wrath against sin, leading Christ to cry out, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' (Psalm 22:1). Thus, His suffering was essential for the salvation of God's elect, bearing their sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).

Q: Why is Christ's suffering important for Christians?

Christ's suffering is central to the gospel as it fulfills the necessary atonement for sin, providing salvation. Christ's suffering is foundational to the Christian faith because it embodies the ultimate sacrifice for sin. The New Testament teaches that Jesus, being perfect and sinless, bore the sins of His people in His own body on the tree, ensuring that they would never have to face God's fierce anger (1 Peter 2:24). His agony on the cross, marked by both physical pain and spiritual desolation, serves as the cornerstone of redemption, demonstrating God's love and justice. By enduring such horrific suffering and offering Himself as a payment for sin, Christ made it possible for believers to be counted righteous before God. Thus, understanding His suffering deepens the significance of our salvation and the grace extended to us.

Q: How do we know that Christ's sacrifice was for our sins?

The New Testament assures us that Christ bore our sins in His body on the cross, fulfilling prophesy. The certainty that Christ's sacrifice was for our sins is rooted in the testimony of Scripture. Specifically, 1 Peter 2:24 states that Jesus 'his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,' which confirms the truth that His death was a substitutionary atonement for His people. This aligns with the prophecies in Isaiah 53, which articulate that He would be 'made an offering for sin,' indicating that His sufferings were purposefully intended to bear the sins of others. Furthermore, Christ's own words during His crucifixion, echoed in the psalms, highlight His intimate identification with our plight as He bore the weight of our guilt. Therefore, the biblical narrative consistently emphasizes that His suffering was not in vain but rather was the very mechanism by which redemption is secured for believers.

Sovereign Grace Chapel, located at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. message for today's broadcast will be from Lamentations chapter 1 and verse 12. I want to read just one verse for a text this today for this message. Listen to Lamentations chapter 1 verse 12 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. Now, without doubt, Jeremiah was expressing, personally, his anguish and his suffering at the destruction of God's temple. as the destruction of Jerusalem as a whole, as the destruction of the city. There is no doubt that Jeremiah was expressing his anguish and suffering about Jerusalem being ransacked and his and his people's utter ruin and starvation and their captivity that was going to Babylon because of their sin against God. There is no doubt about that. Jeremiah's pouring out his own heart unto God here because he knew the Lord had afflicted him. The Lord was chastening Israel for their rebellion against him. But from the preponderant testimony of scripture, Jeremiah spoke prophetically.

He spoke not only of himself and his people and the sad, utter ruin of Jerusalem and the temple in his day, but he spoke prophetically of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke prophetically of Christ specifically on the accursed tree when Jesus Christ would die for the sins of God's elect.

Now note the truth here in our verse. And here is my title, if you will, No Sorrow Like Christ's Sorrow. First of all, think about this. It was the Lord. Do you see that? It was the Lord. Think of this Christ. Now we know, yes, no doubt, Jeremiah was speaking of himself and his people, but he's also speaking prophetically of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was the Lord in his fierce anger who had afflicted and brought the sorrow.

Do you see that? You see it? Look at it, is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by, and men and women literally pass by the cross as Jesus Christ suffered and hung on that tree. They mocked and ridiculed while he hung on that tree. 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, do you see that? wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. So that's the first thought I want you to think about. It was the Lord that afflicted Christ. Think about that. Here's the second thought. It was the Lord's fierce anger against sin. Isn't that an amazing thing? It's the Lord's fierce anger against sin that afflicted and brought the sorrow. An old gospel preacher once made a statement on this line.

On our way to Sinai, on our way to that place of the law, the giving of the law, the giving of the Ten Commandments, on our way to Sinai to hear what the law says and all of its judgments, let us just stop and camp at Calvary and view what took place there. He also went on to say, on our way to the subject of 666, and on our way to the subject of the Battle of Armageddon, let us just stop, let's just stop on our way to Sinai, or on our way to what is 666, or on our way to what is the Battle of Armageddon, let's just stop at Calvary and view the bloodied Son of God hanging there. Read it again, look at it.

Is it nothing to you? Christ, we can say, would be saying that even to those that passed by in front of him as he was being crucified on that tree. But I can say this to you this morning, as I stand here and others have stood in this place and preached for many years about the crucifixion and the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, the afflictions of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sorrows of the Lord Jesus Christ, and what actually happened to him when he hung on that tree. Is it nothing to you when you hear that? Listen to it. Listen to the words and may it be that God's spirit applies this to you. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Is it?

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. There's two parts to Christ's suffering that I want to try to deal with today. Think about it, two parts. One, the first part is this.

What Jesus Christ endured at the hands of men, do you realize they were slowly, from the beginning, right after the trial, They began to beat him and maul him, and they were slowly torturing him to death. Had it not been that God the Father gave him control, power, authority over his own body and his own death and life, they would have slowly tortured him to death. Think about it. Think about what he endured at the hands of men. Think about Christ's suffering at the hands of his creatures. Think about it. He was arrested. He was framed at a mock trial. He was turned over to the Roman authorities who beat him.

They lacerated his back and flayed it open, flayed it wide open with a whip. They plucked out his beard. Yes, he had a beard and they plucked it out. They grabbed big handfuls of his beard Imagine the pain in that. They beat him. They lacerated his back. They flayed it wide open with a whip. They plucked out his beard. They punched him in the face. They spit on him. They thrust, thrust, not just gently placed. They thrust a crown of thorns on his head and hit him with sticks.

It says with reed, with a reed. He was beaten. Think about it now. This is his sorrow. This is what he suffered at the hands of men. This is what the Lord of glory, this is what Jesus Christ of Nazareth, God manifest in the flesh, this is what he suffered at the hands of men. He was beaten mercilessly, mercilessly.

Then, after all that, they took him and they crucified him on a cross. They nailed his hands to the part of that cross. They, in some manner, either in both feet or both feet, maybe crossed one or crossed over the other, they nailed his feet to that cross. They actually crucified him on the cross.

The thing about it is what he was suffering at the hands of men, what I've just mentioned to you this day, is I'm just scratching the surface of what all they did to him. They mocked him while he hung there and suffered. They mocked him while, they mocked and laughed at him while he hung there in his pain, in his agony. And I want you to understand this, you see these little pictures, you see these pictures or little crosses of Jesus hanging on the cross, and he's got that loincloth, no, he was hanging there in open, naked shame. They'd taken his clothes away from him. This is what he suffered at the hands of men. But again, I say that's just, I'm just scratching the surface. Think about this second thing.

Remember, we looked at what he suffered at the hands of men, but now look at what he suffered under the fierce anger and wrath of God the Father. Did you know that on the tree, when Jesus Christ hung on that tree, do you understand that God the Father turned his back on God the Son? that God forsook the Son while the Son hung on that tree? This is what He suffered at the hands of God the Father. Yes, think of the tremendous agony and the pain of being mercilessly tortured and then hung on that cross But as he hung there, as he hung there, God the Father turned his back.

Listen to Christ's own words. It's recorded by the psalmist David in a psalm hundreds of years before it ever happened. And even we are told in the New Testament that Christ cried out these words. And listen to what the psalmist David said concerning Jesus Christ in Psalm 22.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? When he hung on that tree, God the Father turned his back on him. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me? And from the words of my roaring, he was suffering at the hands of men, yes. but now he suffers at the hands of God the Father. Listen, oh my God, verse two. Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but now hear us not.

You think about that. This is the beloved son of God the Father. This is the one that God spoke from heaven and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye him, well let us hear him. as we pass by this cross, so to speak, or as we'd say, as we hear, as you're hearing what this book says that Jesus Christ endured and suffered when he died on Calvary's tree, when he hung there in open shame. Do you hear what he's saying? God the Father forsook him.

But he looked, oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. And in the night season, how is that both true? Do you remember that when he was crucified at a certain hour, the sun went dark? He hung there both in open shame in the daylight. Then all of a sudden, God the Father calls the sun. Whether it was a total eclipse, we do not know. It does not matter. The sun went dark. Jesus Christ hung there in darkness with God the Father having turned his back on the sun.

Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. And in the night season, and am not silent, but I want you to listen to his own personal perfection in this. While he's suffering there, and we'll look at why he suffered there, why God the Father turned his back on him, but look at what he cried out, but thou art holy.

He never accused the Lord God of being cruel or unjust, but thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Do you see it? Our fathers trusted in thee. This is Christ. His own heart, his own words, his own soul, his own spirit crying out unto God the Father. Our fathers trusted in thee. They trusted and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee and were delivered. They trusted in thee and were not confounded.

But I am a worm. Do you see that? But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised of the people. Yes, he suffered horribly at the hands of men. but that pales. It doesn't even come up to par with it. That pales in comparison with what his soul felt as he hung on that cursed tree. Do you read it? Listen. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? You're passing by right now this day. I'm giving you a verbal, mental, if you will, picture of what happened to Jesus Christ when he hung on that tree. 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, do you see it? This is not even about what men had done to him, but the Lord, do you see it? Wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. And of course, that begs the question, It makes me think of this question, and I figure some of you out there listening to me might think, why?

Why did God the Father, who, as I said before, that spoke from heaven and said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him, and now God the Father turns his back upon him? At the apex of his sufferings? At the apex of the cruelty that had been handed out by men upon the Son of God, and now the Father forsakes him? Why? We know two reasons why.

Now I'm gonna turn to 1 Peter, and I'll read the verse in a moment. And this is why God the Father turned his back on the Son when he hung on that cursed tree. Listen to what the book says. I'm gonna make the statement, then I'll read what the book says.

First of all, first of all, he bore, Jesus Christ bore a people's sin in his own body the one who had no sin, the one who did no sin, the one the scripture says knew no sin, yet when he hung on that tree, when he hung there on that accursed tree, being mercilessly, mercilessly just tortured by men, and then God the Father turned his back on him. turned away from him, and he cries out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why did God the Father abandon him?

Because he bore a people's sin in his own body on the tree. And this is exactly what Peter says in 1 Peter 2, verse 24. Speaking of Christ, he says, who? His own self, he did this alone. He did this in the truest sense, because remember, God the Father had turned his back on him.

Who his own self, bear our sins in his own body on the tree. Let me say this this morning, without any kind of fear, Whoever sins Jesus Christ suffered for on that tree, they were in his own body on the tree. Think of it. Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness by whose stripes we are healed.

There's why God the Father turned his back on the Son. That's why God the Father abandoned him. That's why his sorrow was unlike any other man's sorrow. He was perfect. He was righteous, he was holy, and at that time, yet at that time, when he hung on that tree, he bore a people's sins in his own body on the tree, and when God the Father, I'm illustrating now, when God the Father looked on him, God seen sin in him, in his body, and God the Father turned his back. He turned his back and he cries out because, according to scripture, his soul was made an offering for Sihon.

Think about this. Think about this. This is what it means. This is the cry. This is the weight and the gravity of the words when we read Jeremiah's words in Lamentations 112. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Do you say, well, but that's just that old time bloody religion, that archaic. Yes, it may be. But here's the thing.

Look at his sorrow. 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. The father abandoned him. That's his sufferings. That's his, oh no, there's no sorrow like his sorrow.

He didn't deserve it. but because God, in an act of grace and mercy and compassion, somehow, I can't explain it, but the book lets us know that. sins, the sins of the people that he was dying for, the sins of the people that he loved, the sins of God's people of all ages from beginning to end, he was burying their sins in his own body on the tree. And here's that, so God the Father turned his back on him. Think about this. And we'll look at a couple verses. And we'll look at it from the Psalms. The Psalms. Think about this.

Jesus Christ felt the shame. He felt the shame. Jesus Christ felt the reproach. Not a reproach because of something he had done, but because of the things others had done. Not a shame because of anything that he had done against God or man, for he had perfectly kept God's law toward God the Father and toward the sons of men in his whole life. And yet when he hung on that tree, he was burying the sins of a people in his own body on the tree, and God the Father turned his back on him.

He felt the shame. He felt the reproach. He felt the mockery. He felt the guilt. He felt the heartbreak of sins that he did not even commit. Do you hear me? You see, this is much more than what some of these mamby-pamby preachers right here. He just suffered, and boy, men tortured him, and oh, won't you believe in him, and won't you give him your heart? This is not what it's about.

This is about him burying a people's sins in his own body when he hung on that tree. And when God the Father then looked at him on that tree, he said, I see sins. And he turned his back on the Son. But he turned his back on the Son so that he'd never turn his back upon those for whom Jesus Christ was suffering. Again, I say he felt the shame. He felt the reproach, he felt the mockery, he felt the guilt, he felt the heartbreak of sins he did not commit when he suffered on that tree.

And this is exactly the testimony of Scripture. This is what most preachers, like they love running to 666, they love running to Armageddon, they love running to the Law of Sinai, they love running to, how you ought to serve the Lord. This is how God the Son served God the Father by burying his people's sins in his own body on the tree. God the Father exacting punishment upon him when he suffered on that tree.

Listen to what, just a few verses. Listen to what he cried out. Let's go back to Psalm 22. I got three chapters, and I'll just touch on a few things. Remember, this is the thoughts. the emotions, the soul and spirit of Jesus Christ as he hung on that tree. And listen to him cry this out. Verse six of Psalm 22. But I am a worm. Do you see it? But I, I read this one to you. I'm gonna show it. This is what Christ cried out. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? We know these are, yes, David wrote this, but these are words, prophetic words about Jesus Christ when he hung on that tree.

But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised of all the people. Look at verse 14. I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels. Look at it, last part of verse 16, they pierce my hands and my feet. They literally did this to him. Look at verse 18, they part my garments among them and cast lots upon my clothing, my vesture.

Do you see that? Now look at what Psalm 40 says. This is the same thing. Listen to what Psalm 40 says. And it's clear this is of the Lord Jesus Christ. A prophecy of him according to Psalm 40 in verse seven and verse eight. It's clear. The New Testament makes it clear these are the words of Jesus Christ even when he hung on that tree.

And listen to what he says in verse 12. Listen to Christ's shame. Listen to his sufferings. Listen to his sorrow when he was hanging on that tree. with the sins of his people in his own body and God the Father turning his back upon him. Verse 12, for innumerable evils have compassed me about.

Mad iniquities, what? Mine iniquities, yes, because he took them upon him in his own body on the tree. He willingly did this. He took them to be his very own. For innumerable evils have come past me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart is relinquished. It faileth me. Do you see that? As I said, he felt the shame. the reproach, the mockery, the guilt, the heartbreak of sins that he did not even personally commit, but they were laid upon him by God the Father when God the Father seen that he turned his back on the Son.

Listen to Psalm 69. You see, people, These mamby-pamby preachers, they won't tell you. They don't want to stop and really look at Calvary and here's what happened when the Son of God died on that tree. They want to talk about everything else but his sufferings. Why? Because they don't really want you to know the truth.

They want to point to themselves. Listen to what our Lord Jesus Christ cried out. Psalm 69, and we know this is speaking of Christ according to the first phrase in verse four. We know it is. Listen. Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. Do you see it? Unto my soul. Look at verse five.

O God, thou knowest my foolishness. Do you hear Christ? He had no personal foolishness. But he had taken our foolishness, the foolishness of his people, the foolishness of believers, the foolishness of all them who diligently and lovingly and willingly and knowingly seek him. Oh God, thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee. Do you see that?

Because for thy sake I have borne reproach. Shame hath covered my face. Verse 19, thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor, mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. And then it goes on to say, they gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Do you see as we're passing by Calvary here? That 666 don't really matter now, does it, huh? That's in God's hands. That Battle of Armageddon, yeah, there's gonna be one, but that's in God's hands. That Mount Sinai, all that does is condemn me. It condemns me.

Oh, but when I look at Calvary, when I pass by and see him crucified for sinners, see him died in the room and the stead and the place of the guilty, taking the very shame and guilt upon himself, Oh, it brings me relief. Think of it, according to Isaiah, and Isaiah, and it's recorded by Isaiah in Isaiah 53, verses five through 11. I will not read it all.

It says this, that God the Father made his soul an offering for his soul. His sufferings were far more than what he, and I'm not belittling those sufferings, those nails and the beating, pulling of the beard, the crown of thorns, the lacerating his back wide open.

I'm not belittling that, but that in and of itself meant nothing. when compared with God the Father seeing the sins of God's people in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God the Father turned his back on him. He was suffering the payment for sins. He was dying for, in the place of, in the stead of. He was dying on the tree and suffering the fierce anger of God so that those he died for would not ever suffer the fierce anger of God.

His soul, as Isaiah says, was made an offering for sin. So again, I'll read it one more time. 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. Do you see that? Do you see that? Do you see him suffering and afflicted for sinners' sins? Do you? Not his own, but for sinners' sins. I say this, run to him. Run to Him in faith. Bow before Him as Lord and Savior and Redeemer. Amen.

No Sorrow Like Christ's Sorrow

What does the Bible say about Christ's suffering?

Why is Christ's suffering important for Christians?

How do we know that Christ's sacrifice was for our sins?

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No Sorrow Like Christ's Sorrow

What does the Bible say about Christ's suffering?

Why is Christ's suffering important for Christians?

How do we know that Christ's sacrifice was for our sins?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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