Turn with me, if you would, to
Luke chapter 23. I want to try again this morning
if I'm able to set the scene before your mind concerning the
things that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for the redemption of
his people. We've looked at this several
times in the last several months and considered different things
concerning Our Lord's betrayal, His sufferings, both physical
and suffering of soul, and His actual crucifixion upon the cross. Now, just to kind of get you
up to date to where we'll pick up our story, the Lord Jesus
had been betrayed with a kiss by one of His closest friends. And He now comes face to face
with the soldiers in Gethsemane's garden, which have come to take
him by force." Now, upon this, if you look at Matthew's account,
it tells us that then, after the soldiers came, that all of
his disciples, every one, forsook him and fled. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, picture this in your mind, now stands alone to tread
the winepress of God's holy wrath in the place of wretched sinners. Even his loving father, who he'd
been with before time ever existed, eternity passed, now hides his
face from him. Can you imagine? The next morning
at the break of day, the Lord Jesus is brought before the chief
priest and he's taken to Pilate, then to Herod, and then back
to Pilate again. And the Scriptures tell us that
Pilate and Herod despised one another. They hated one another,
but they made friends this day as they taxied back and forth,
God the Son. Having already been beaten three
times and weary of a long night A most turbulent morning, the
Lord Jesus is rejected by His own nation. They found no value
in Him whatsoever as the Messiah. None. He'd been beaten beyond
recognition as a crown of thorns was pushed into his head. Have
you ever just pricked your finger on a thorn from a rose? My, can
you imagine a crown of thorns being placed and pressed down
upon your head? His precious blood spills to
the ground from his swollen and abused body and brow. The bloodthirsty
crowd who sought nothing less than to be entertained by his
sufferings. That's why they were there. They
weren't satisfied with all that alone. So instantly, the scripture
says, with loud voices, they cried together in unison, crucify
him, crucify him. As we see in verse 21 of Luke
chapter 23. And I remind you that these things
were done quickly. four to six hours at most, all
this took place. For those who hated the Lord
Jesus Christ without a cause had resolved to lose no time
in His demise. Their custom at the time of the
Passover feast was to release a criminal. And I suppose this
was done as a token of mercy, but the Son of God And whom pallet
found, found, found no fault. He said, I find no fault in him.
He found no fault. The Lord Jesus found no mercy
and they desired that a, a murderer named Barabbas be released instead
of the innocent son of God. And I tell you, friends, there's
no place in all of Scripture that the evil of man's free will
is more exposed than here where the Scriptures declare that Pilate
delivered Jesus to their will. Verse 25. What is the will of
sinful and fallen man? It's not to come that you might
have life. It's not to bow to He who is
King. It's not to believe God, but
to kill Him if given the opportunity. That's what man's free will desires
to do. And it's no different today.
And as the Lord Jesus Christ walked the path that Golgotha's
healed, carrying His cross, the instrument that was to be used
to kill him, the hardened Roman soldiers laid upon one named
Simon, a Cyrenian, to bear his cross for him, as we see in verse
26. And let me tell you this, they
didn't do this because they felt sorry for him. They didn't do
this because they pitied him or desired to ease or lighten
his burden. They had this Simon carry his
cross because they feared that he would die before he reached
Calvary's hill. And this would prevent them the
joy of inflicting further pain. That's the reason they did it. We might, what might have seemed
to be a token of kindness was nothing but cruelty. And it was
nothing short of brutality that they gave him this brief moment
of ease, if you want to call it that. And there's just so much more
that we could say concerning the suffering of our Savior.
And we've only mentioned a few of the physical things and none
of the suffering of the soul, which I believe was the greatest
of His sufferings. And truly the prophecy that's
found in Lamentations 1, verse 12 comes to mind. It reads, is
it nothing to you? 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." Who afflicted him? Notice who it
was. The Lord, God. hath afflicted
me in the day of His fierce anger." So let's pick up the story here
where we find a great company of people following the spotless
Lamb of God to the place of His execution. Verse 27, and there followed Him a great
company of people and of women which also bewailed and lamented
Him. Here we find some true mourners.
Some who had possibly seen firsthand His works and miracles of mercy,
compassion, and deliverance. And let me say this, if there
ever was a man, if there ever was a man who should have been
pitied, a man who was totally and completely innocent of any
charge, it was this man, Jesus of Nazareth. All the days of
his life, all of them, every minute of every hour of every
day, all the days of his life, he went about his father's business
always, always doing only good with a true heart of love, kindness,
mercy, and tenderness. And I'm sure some of these mourners
knew that, that he suffered unjustly. And we're told that they bewailed
and lamented him. Upon hearing the cries of these
mourners, our Lord Jesus then delivers and preaches the gospel
one last time. And what a message of mercy and
grace it was. In verse 28, but Jesus turning
unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me. Weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children. To those from whom true tears
flow from their eyes, seeing this injustice befall this innocent
man, are met with a display of sorrow by Him for them, unlike any that's ever been seen. How could one who is in such
a desperate difficulty bring forth such words of compassion
as these? Weep not for me. He's most deserving
of their weeping, but he says, weep not for me. He rejects their
pity. He rejects their grief as mistaken. And he tells them that their
tears are useless and unprofitable. As one of the old writers wrote,
he's not just another unfortunate fellow caught in the crosshairs
of circumstance. Our Lord said, weep not for me. For he takes these sufferings.
Now hear me. He takes these sufferings voluntarily
for the redemption of those that the Father has given him in eternity
past. He chose this course of suffering
so that he might die the just for the unjust. Weep not for
me. Don't you weep for me. In light
of our Lord's words here, I could not help to think about the day
in which we live. We live in a day. where the majority
of so-called preachers portray the Lord Jesus to be a weak and
a pathetic Savior. He's declared to be willing to
save but unable without man's cooperation. He's portrayed to
be softly and tenderly calling while wringing His hands, hoping
and praying that some sinner might want Him. They say that
He's made salvation possible for sinners. But it's the sinner's
decision who must exercise their will and take the first step.
Men preach the sovereign Savior as one who loves everybody and
nobody loves Him in return. Poor, poor Jesus. Will no one heed His soft and
tender call? Will no guilty sinner take notice
of His invitation which begs and pleads the sinners to please
come home? Men preach the omnipotent Savior,
the omnipotent, all-powerful Christ as one who is to be pitied
and felt sorry for. Men and women weep that none
love the loving Savior. They beg their hearers to exercise
their free will and let Jesus save them since He did die for
all of them. Oh, the Jesus that the majority
in our day preaches is pathetic. He is. The Christ that mainstream
religion preaches is frustrating. and people weep and feel sorry
for him. But I tell you, this is another Jesus. This is another
Jesus. This is not the Jesus of the
Scriptures. This is not the Savior with whom
we have to do. This other Jesus, this pathetic
Jesus should be pitied, but not the God-man. Not the Lord, THE
Lord Jesus Christ. Just don't pass by that little
word, THE. He's THE. He's the only Savior. He's the only Jesus. He's the
Lord Jesus Christ. And nowhere is that clearer than
in the verses we have before us today. He says, weep not for
me. Weep not for me. And as profound
as those words are, when you consider where he's at, what
he's been through, what he's suffered, where he's going and
what he's fixing to do, As profound as those words are, none are
more profound, I tell you, than the ones that follow. Look at
verse 28 again. Weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children. Weep for yourselves and for your
children. Weep for yourselves, since it
was your sin that put Him on the cross. Weep for your sins
and for the sins of your children. Oh, the sorrow of the man of
sorrows. And what unselfishness, what
unselfishness our Lord portrayed even in His darkest and dying
hour. Do you see that? Don't cry that
I'm going to die. For this is the will of God for
the salvation of His people. Don't cry for me, but cry for
yourself. Weep not for my condition, but
weep because of your condition. May the Lord enable sinners to
truly weep for themselves. Oh, God calls us to weep and
to cry over the miseries that we have brought upon ourselves. Not only have our sins brought
the Lord to this place, but if you and I would have been there,
We too would have been among the bloodthirsty throng. If not
by the grace of God, I tell you, most definitely I, like Judas,
would have betrayed him. I, like Peter, would have denied
him. I, like all the apostles, would have fled in fear. My heart
would have been behind every mocking word. It would have. Every blow that caused him harm,
every lie fabricated to incriminate him, every stripe that was laid
upon his back are but manifestations of our corrupt hearts. The wicked,
unbelieving hearts of fallen men and women pronounce their
own judgment as they cry, his blood be on us and on our children. Pilate said, I don't find any
fault with him. They said crucify him. But this man has not done anything
that's deserving of death. His blood be on us and on our
children. And no wonder the loving Savior
says here, weep for yourselves and for your children. The shedding
of his precious blood was caused by us. His blood is upon all
who called for His death. But don't miss, don't miss the
glorious gospel in this. Yes, it's true that our wicked
hands have taken and killed Him, nailed Him upon the cross, but
ultimately, it was His love for His people that put Him there. Can you see that? How marvelous
is that? Behind it all is the first cause
the Lord Jesus was delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. Acts 2, 23. God was behind it
all. Well, what does this mean? Well,
it means the Lord Jesus Christ as God. He is God. determined
and purposed to die, it means that He delivered Himself. What? That's right. That's what
it means. God the Son determined, purposed and allowed Himself
to be taken and crucified. Why? Because of you, if you're one
of His. Because of you. Because of me. This was the only
way. I repeat the only way that chosen sinners could be justified
and God still be just. You see, God is bound by His
holy justice and He can by no means, as a just God, He can
by no means clear the guilty. Somebody has to die. The good
news for you, the sinner, is that God died in your place.
God died in your place. Weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children. I was thinking this morning as
I was looking over my notes, it's not as if the Lord Jesus
turned himself in. We hear people turning themselves
in. Most of them are guilty. No, the Lord Jesus didn't turn
himself in. He purposed. He delivered Himself
being innocent and took the guilty's place. That's much more than turning
yourself in. Oh, God bound by His only justice
will by no means clear the guilty. So the innocent, and when I say
innocent here, I mean capital I, innocent, the spotless Lamb
of God Himself became guilty that the guilty might go free.
God's made a way that He might be just and at the same time
justify the ungodly. And if you're ungodly, that's
the best news you ever heard. And I am, and it's the best news
I ever heard. Don't weep for me, but weep for
yourselves. When our Lord's own disciples
sorrowed at the thought of Him leaving. He told them time and
time again, a day is soon approaching where I'm going to leave. I'm
going to Jerusalem, I'm going to be delivered, I'm going to
be killed, but I'm going to rise again. And He wiped away their
tears with that very promise. He said that He would see them
again. He told them, and ye now therefore
have sorrow, but I will see you again. John 16, verse 22. But notice here, though, that
when the daughters of Jerusalem lamented him, bewailed him only
with a worldly sorrow, he directed their tears to something that
they should truly cry for. James wrote, cleanse your hands,
you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be
afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to
mourning and your joy to heaviness. Weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves. Now in the next two verses, we
see our Lord and Savior in His office as prophet. Notice verse
29, for behold, the days are coming. He's God, He knows everything. Behold, the days are coming in
which they shall say, blessed are the barren, and the wombs
that never bear, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall
they begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills,
cover us. Now, it's true that the Lord
here speaks of the future destruction of Jerusalem. And it's very important
to understand that to the Jewish women it was considered a great
disgrace to be childless. How peculiar this must have sounded
in their ears. The idea of a time that would
come when it would be a blessing to have no children was absolutely
a foreign thought to these daughters of Jerusalem. And yet within
50 to 70 years, depending on who you read, according to many
of the scholars, this prediction by our Lord was literally fulfilled. The Roman army under the future
emperor named Titus brought destruction upon Jerusalem with the most
horrible sufferings that can ever be conceived. The old historians
like Josephus report that women actually ate their own children
during the siege for want of food. And upon none more heavily
were these judgments sent than upon the wives, the mothers,
and the little children. How horrible a thought. Weep
for yourselves and for your children. However, let it be understood,
and hear me closely, that there's another judgment coming he's
speaking of here. There's a judgment here that
the Lord is referring to, a judgment coming that's prepared by God
for the rebellious and unbelieving. There's a wrath revealed in the
gospel for those who harden themselves in wickedness and unbelief against
God's Son. Oh, there's a wrath revealed.
The same Christ who bids men and women who are laboring with
their sin, heavy laden because of it, declares most plainly
in this book that unless a sinner repents, he will perish. The same Savior who holds out
His hand and says, Come, let us reason together. Will one
day soon in the flaming fire of divine judgment take vengeance
on all those who will not kiss the hand that He extends in mercy? Our Lord says there is a day
fast approaching that these women would wish to be childless In
the days of our Lord, those that had no children greatly envied
those who did. But our Lord says there's a day
coming when these mothers who have children will envy those
that have none. Look at verse 29 again. Blessed
are the barren. and the wounds that never bear. Blessed are the paps that never
gave suck. And oh, how the words of our
Lord should ring in our heads and in our hearts. Weep for yourselves
and for your children." When I think of my children,
others that I love who do not know God, who do not trust in
Christ, I weep for them. I do. I look at that little granddaughter
of mine, just two years old, that little three plus month
old grandson and consider, consider this godless world in which they're
being raised in. I cannot help but to weep. God have mercy. Save and call all who are yet
without Christ by your grace. How cold is the heart that will
not weep for the lost? Have we really become so self-indulged,
so attached to this life, so fond of this present evil world
that we won't consider the wrath and judgment to come for those
who do not know the Lord? Where is the weeping for sin? not cry and weep for the lost? Are we so engrossed with the
things of this world that we've forsaken our tears for those
who are lost and will die in their sin? I'm reminded of a
story that Brother Montgomery has told many times over the
years about an old missionary who stood on the street corner
and wept. When asked what was wrong, he
explained, Oh, the sound of footsteps as they pitter and patter on
their way to hell. It's too much for me to bear.
Where's the weeping for ourselves and others? Christ said, don't
weep for me. Don't weep for me, but weep for
yourselves and your children. Now the Lord said here in verse
30, the day's coming. It's coming. It's coming when
men and women will begin to say to the mountains, fall on us,
and to the hills, cover us. There's a day coming when men
and women will wish to be buried alive. having not only their
faces covered, but would desire to be completely covered and
crushed to pieces rather than stand face to face with a thrice
holy God. That day is coming. It's coming. Those who will not flee to Christ
and put themselves under His protection as their refuge will
then in vain call to the hills and to the mountains to shelter
them from His wrath. But it'll be too late. There'll
be no escape for the wicked in that day. There'll be no mercy
then. But while there's still breath, while there's still a pulse,
While there is yet life, weep, beg, call, and cry for God's
mercy. The Lord has not yet shut the
door of the ark. The reign of God's wrath has
not yet begun to fall. Come into the ark. Come to Christ. As Brother Cody preached Thursday
night out of Psalm 130, cry out of the depths, out of the depths
of your sin, out of the depths of your depravity. Oh God, hear
my voice. Friends, if God should mark iniquities,
who can stand? None, none can stand. There's none that doeth good.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. No one can
stand before God if he should hold us accountable for our sins. Yet the gospel there in Psalm
130 is also declared. But there is forgiveness with
thee. That's my only hope. That's your
only hope. We're all guilty. We've all come
short. There's none that understand
it. There's none that do it good. There's none that are righteous.
All deserve hell and condemnation. But there's mercy. There's forgiveness with the
Lord Jesus Christ. There's forgiveness, but it's
only found in Christ. Will you come into the ark? Will you come into the Lord Jesus
Christ while the door is yet open? Or will you die outside
of the ark under the reign of God's wrath? What will it be? What will it be? Now hear me
well in closing, look at verse 31. The Lord Jesus says, for if they
do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? What the Lord is saying here
is just this. First, He's saying, if I, who am not a rebel against
Caesar, suffer so, How will those suffer whom the Romans will take
in actual rebellion when Jerusalem is destroyed? But he's saying
much more than that. The spiritual application, what
the Lord is saying to you and I is just this. If I, who am
perfectly innocent, perfectly righteous, be put to death like
this, If I suffer the things that I've suffered, who am totally
innocent, spotless, perfect, what will become of those who
are truly guilty? That's what he's saying. If I
am perfectly innocent, be put to death like this, what will
become of those of you who are truly deserving? When the fire rages in the forest
and the green trees which are full of sap and moisture, when
they burn and crackle like stubble in the flame, how much more will
the old dry trees burn which are rotten to the core? That's
what he's saying. Are they not prepared as fuel
for the furnace? If Christ suffers, He who knew
no sin, He who had no sin, He who was full of life, full of
the sap of holiness, as one old writer said, how much more will
they suffer who have long been dead in trespasses and sin? May we truly see what sin is
when we see the sinless suffer for it. Did you hear what I said? We truly see what sin is when
we see He who is sinless suffer for sin. If the green tree burned
as it burned on Calvary's cross in misery and anguish, what shall
be done to the dry? How shall any escape? How should
any escape the everlasting wrath, the everlasting burning of the
dead and dry branches that have been cut up, been cut off and
are good for nothing but for the fire? How much hotter will
hell burn for them? The writer of Hebrews asked this
question, how shall we escape? if we neglect so great salvation?"
Well, friends, the answer is found right there in that statement. We must not neglect. We must
not neglect so great a salvation as this. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. We looked at it last week. That
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Are you a sinner? That's who He came to save. I'll leave you with the words
of John Newton who once wrote these words to an old hymn. Beautiful,
beautiful hymn. I saw one hanging on a tree. and agony and blood who fixed
his languid eyes on me as near his cross I stood. Oh, can it
be upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled,
my heart is filled to think he died for me. Sure, never till
my latest breath can I forget that look. It seemed to charge
me with His death, though not a word He spoke. Oh, can it be
upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled, my heart
is filled to think He died for me. My conscience felt and owned
the guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sins, His blood had
spilled and helped to nail Him there. Oh, can it be? Can it
be upon a tree the Savior died for me? A second look he gave,
which said, I freely all forgive. I freely
all forgive. This blood is for thy ransom
paid. I die that thou mayest live. Oh, can it be? Can it be upon
a tree the Savior died for me? Yes, it can be. My soul is thrilled. My heart is filled to think He
died for me. Weep not for me. Weep for yourselves
and for your children.