I invite you this morning to
turn with me to Lamentations chapter 1. Brother Caleb read to us a few moments ago. I won't bother to read the chapter
to you again except my text only back in verse 12. Is it nothing to you, all ye
that pass by? Behold, and see if there is any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. Let me see if I can describe
to you, before we get into the message, the historic meaning
of this verse, the setting here, and why the prophet spoke these
words. That ancient and glorious city
of Jerusalem had been besieged by the armies of its adversaries. A literal invasion of cruel and
heathen men had filled the streets of the cities. These ungodly men went throughout
the city of God, the city of hope, the city of worship, to
pillage and rape and murder and burn the place to the ground.
The very heart and center of the worship of true believers
in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem. And it lay out
there before the prophet in total annihilation. And in the midst
of the city of Jerusalem was the temple of God and it lay
there in smoke and ashes. Smoke and ashes. The only place
where men could come and communicate with God. And the only place
where God promised to meet with men lay in smoke and ashes. And the prophet of God wept on
the hillside as one who had lost his true love. And in the midst
of his weeping, in the midst of his lamentations, he looked
and the people were passing by. They were passing by. He was
broken hearted. He understood that this thing
was from the hand of God. This destruction was not because
of any enemy. Because who is the enemy that
can defeat God? This thing had happened by the
commandment of God. The hand of God. The counsel
of God. And he was broken hearted. And
he looked. And he looked. And the people
were just going this way and that way. In the midst of his
weeping, he looked and saw the passers-by, all confused and
frightened and worried. This one going that way, and
this one going that way, to care for their own. Grabbing what
they could to salvage. Some worried about their family.
Some grabbing whatever they could find and running to who knows
where. Where are you going to hide? You know they defended the city
of God to the last man. Where are you going to hide from
an enemy like that? And seeing them go about seemingly
concerned with everything except the destruction of the one place
where men could meet and worship God. Isaiah's whole hope, his
whole joy of his soul was lying there in smoking ashes. And he
just fell to the ground, no doubt in my mind. In that day, it was
the tradition to put sackcloth and ashes on their head. And
he was weeping and wailing as one who had lost their true love
on this mountain. And people just going by, grabbing
this and grabbing that. And I've got to go here, and
I've got to go there. And they'd look at him and just
keep on walking. Keep on walking. and seeing them going about seemingly
concerned with everything except the destruction of the city,
and the one place where they could go and worship God, the
one place where God promised to meet with them, this prophet
of God cries out, is it nothing to you? All you that pass by,
is it nothing? Is it nothing? But this is not the subject of
the text. The subject of the text, as in
every text of this sacred book, is the Lord Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Now that's what's going on here.
I wanted you to know the historic setting because I wanted you
to know what was going on and its likeness as a picture of
the sufferings of Christ. Paul came to Thessalonica. It
says he reasoned with them three Sabbath days out of the Scriptures,
the Old Testament Scriptures. And it says, opening and alleging
that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead,
and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is that Christ. Open this book, John. Turn to
the book of Jeremiah. And he said, this is talking
about Christ. Alleged. alleged, just stood
up and said it, flat out. This is not talking about Jews
dying in the mud, this is talking about Christ dying on the cross.
He alleged it. And for three days, he alleged
it. And that's what I'm doing to
you this morning. I'm reading this scripture, I'm giving you
its historic content, but I'm alleging that these things are
talking about the sufferings of Christ. Oh, listen to it,
from above hath He sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth
against them. He hath spread a net for my feet.
He hath turned me back. He hath made me desolate and
faint all the day. The yoke of my transgressions
is bound by His hand. They are wreathed and come up
upon my neck. He hath made my strength to fall. The Lord hath delivered me into
their hands. for whom I am not able to rise
up. That's Christ. That's Christ. I have more to say this morning
than time is going to allow me to say, so I'm going to say what
I can and leave the rest to say some other time. But I want to
begin here. I want you to see to whom this
broken-hearted prophet speaks, and that's the title of my message,
to the passers-by." A word to the passers-by. All ye that pass
by, he said. Now because of the nature of
the subject and the nature of the sufferings, I must assume
that he's here addressing those who are confronted with the gospel
of Christ. Any man who's confronted with
the gospel of Christ is passing by. And the only place which
such a sorrow and such an affliction can be seen is in the Gospel
of the Crucified Redeemer. All you that pass by, all you
that pass by, those who come here for whatever reason are
exposed to the sufferings and death of the Son of God as He
sat before you as the Lamb slain. God slayed Him. There was no
doubt in this prophet's mind by whose hand Jerusalem lay in
ruin. It was by the hand of God. by
the hand of God. And those who come here are confronted
with these things. Justification before God is by
the free grace of God through the redemption that's in Christ
Jesus whom God sets forth. We say, I can only set forth
what God has set forth. God set forth His Son as a propitiation
for our sins through faith in His blood. You can only believe
on Him as He's declared to you. through the word of God and through
the preaching of the gospel. And he set forth as the dying
lamb, a substitute for sinners, suffering the righteous anger
of God's wrath to satisfy divine justice so that he can be both
just and justifier of all those that believe. But I tell you
this, you can't call on Him in whom you have not believed and
you can't believe in Him of whom you've not heard and you can't
hear without a preacher. Somebody has to tell you. You're
not going to figure it out. It's not like a puzzle. You just
don't take this piece and that piece and keep putting pieces
until something fits. You're not going to figure it
out. Oh, there have been untold millions
who've passed by. But didn't look. Didn't look. The Jewish hierarchy came this
way. They heard the words from the
very mouth of Him who is the Lamb slain. And He said, I say
unto you that you've also seen Me and believed not. They were
passers-by. And they kept right on going.
There's coming a day in which I shall have to give an account
of what I say to you, and there's coming a day in which you're
going to give an account for what you've heard, and folks
are going to give an account for what they could have heard,
but chose not to. And that's what it means here
when he's talking about all those that passed by. Hundreds of thousands
go to their graves with nothing more than creation and conscience
as a witness. But it's not so for you here
this morning. You're passing by. You're passing
by. And if you're here this morning
and pull the shoulder, and that's what the scripture said, they
jerked the shoulder from him. I don't, you know, you put your
hand to show somebody some compassion and show your earnestness and
they pulled the shoulder, he said. They turned the head. I tell you this, It's not going
to be my voice that you hear the next time asking this question,
but it's going to be Him who suffered. It's the sufferer here
that asks the question. You see that? Is it nothing to you, all you
that pass by? Behold and see of my sorrow. It's the sufferer here who asks
the question. Is it nothing to you? Is it nothing? It's a solemn thing to fall under
the hearing of such a text, and I pray that he'll give you the
willingness this morning to at least look at it and consider
it. My friend, you and I are just
creatures of a moment. We're just passing by, so to
speak, through this world. We're just here. Paul said, and
I, you know, from 62 years old looking back, I can say that
this is true. Your life is like steam on a
tea kettle. It's here for a moment and gone. Gone. Where'd the time go? Gone like a flash. And I'll tell
you in another moment, I'll be standing before him. How fast,
how fast. We're just creatures of the moment.
Just like steam on a boiling pot. We're visible for a moment
and then we've vanished into nothing. And we're only passing
through in this world. And there's no hope in the next
world apart from seeing the suffering Savior. You're going to have
to look. You're going to have to see Him. You go into that
world and go in as you are, you're going to be like a moth flying
into a bonfire. God is a consuming fire. Who's
He talking to? He's talking to us. He's talking
to men who are passing by. We're passing by, just passing
through this world. That's who He's talking to. Is
it nothing He said to you? Is it nothing? Alright, the second
thing I want you to see here is the accusation of the question.
What an accusation. Is it nothing to you? Now, there's no middle ground
in this thing of the suffering Savior. It does not ask if there's a
lot or a little. It does not speak in terms of
quantity. Christ is either all or nothing. That's right. It's either all
or nothing. How can one enter into the strongman's
house? and spoil his goods, except he
first bind the strong man, and then he'll spoil his goods. He
that's not with me, listen to what he says here, is against
me. He's against me. And he that
gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. You're not a helper,
you're a hindrance. Ain't that what he say? He that
gathers not with me scattereth abroad. He that loveth father,"
now listen, he that loveth father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his
cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that's
not willing to set that cross of persecution on his back and
take his place with the suffering Savior is not worthy of me."
Isn't that what he said? Not worthy of me. He that findeth his life, he
that finds the joy of his life and the hope of his life and
all of that in this world, he that findeth his life shall lose
it. Have you found a life somewhere?
Other than in the presence of the suffering Savior, other in
the place with the children of God, have you found another place?
You're not worthy of me, he said. Oh, he that findeth his life
shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find
it. Oh, it won't be the imputed sin
of Adam. It won't be the influence of
lying religion or the blindness of Satan's deceit that will haunt
you throughout all eternity. That's not what's going to haunt
you. It's going to be your own abstinence and unwillingness
to bow to his person and work and enter into a fellowship of
those sufferings. That's what's going to haunt
you through all eternity. I found something else. Is it
nothing to you? You see what he's saying? Is
it nothing to you? They had a right to be scared. There was a legitimate cause
of concern. They were running about and grabbing
things, and their homes were on fire, and their children were
scattered, and they were going about the city. But the main
thing that was going on is the only way to God was lying there
and smoking ashes. And everything else took precedence
over that. And the prophet said, is it nothing
to you? God sent forth His Son into this world, made of a woman,
made under the law, hung Him on a cross and poured out His
wrath on Him, turned the enemies loose on Him like a flood. And he says to
us in this day of concern, sure we're concerned. I'm concerned
over my children. You're concerned over yours.
I'm concerned over my neighbors. You're concerned over yours. Is it nothing to you? All you
that pass by? Is it nothing? Well, let me tell
you something. It's nothing to me if I need
anything else. Now, I want other things, but
I don't need other things. I need this. I need this. It's nothing to me if I need
anything more. Do I need some evidence? Do I
need some dream, some vision, some experience? Do I need to
speak in tongues or heal the sick or foretell the future?
Do I need some visual aid to help me to worship? Some preacher
to beg me down the aisle? Some people to encourage me?
Some little council of elders to come back and put their arm
around me and say, now, you know, you want to go to heaven, don't
you? Well, who wouldn't? You know anybody who wants to
go to hell? I don't know anybody who wants to go to hell. Do you need your own merits,
your own will, your own worth, your own keeping? What else do
you need if you need anything more? He's nothing to you. He's nothing. Oh, it's nothing
to me if I need anything more, and it's nothing to me if I need
anything less. Think about it. You made a profession of faith
when you was 12 years old. That's what you were told to
do and you did it. Is that sufficient? Is that going
to do it? Are you willing to rest your
soul on that profession? Are you willing to go out and
meet God on that? You can add to that church catechism
and infant baptism and accepting Jesus as your personal savior
and church membership. The great and glorious God who
spoke this universe into existence, who governs the very providence
that sets our path, has sent forth His Son, nailed Him to a cross, and turned
all the enemies against Him. Is it nothing to you? Is it nothing? Well, that's the
accusation of the question. And then here's the third thing.
Let's talk just a little bit about these sufferings. There's
a uniqueness about his sufferings. First of all, they're unparalleled
in their scope. I can't fathom what he suffered.
I sat and looked at this for the longest time. You know, we
suffer. Men suffer. But usually, when
we suffer, it's from one thing. We suffer from cancer, we suffer
from illness, or we suffer born with some kind of an infirmity. We suffer. We suffer, but we
don't suffer. And every now and then, we'll
suffer maybe two things at the same time. But I tell you, God
opened the gate of the reservoir of sufferings on His Son, and
He suffered everything all at one time. I can't fathom the
scope of his suffering. All of the sins of all his elect
and all their guilt and shame was hung on him. He said, they
are wreathed and come upon my neck. I wrote an article a few weeks
ago and I said, if all you see in 2 Corinthians 5.21 is a legal
transfer of sin. If that's all you see, then you're
still looking with legal eyes. And a fella got all upset and
he took it completely the wrong way. And he's a friend of mine,
and I won't mention his name to you, and I wrote to him. And
I said, it wasn't my intention to try to cause division. It
was my intention to state the difference between looking at
a dead goat and looking at the Son of God dying on a cross.
Is it nothing to you? Is that all you see in that is
just a piece of paper that says you're free to go, a fire escape?
Is that all you find? Is it nothing to you that the
Son of God become a man and was nailed on that cross and suffered? Does that have no impact on you
at all? You see what I'm saying? If all
I can see is a dead goat laying on there in a legal transfer,
I tell you this, you have not yet seen the glory of God in
Christ. I'll say it again. It not only charged to his account,
but as my representative, he was made to experience the guilt
and shame of my sin and suffered for it. He opened not his mouth. I can no more with words describe
what he suffered than a man could take a drop out of a seashell
and calculate the volume of the sea. He made to feel my sins and iniquities. And I can't speak in particular
of yours, but I know my own. And I think about my own, and
I can't even feel of my own sins what he felt of them. Oh, His sins are so unique. His
sufferings are unparalleled in their scope, and they're unique
because of the dignity of His person. Look who's doing the
suffering. My soul. This is the just one,
the righteous one. The way, the truth, the life.
This is God come into the flesh. This is King of kings and Lord
of lords. Here suffers one who is preeminent
by the Father's decree. Creator of all things. Sustainer
of all things. Ruler of all things. Suffering
on a cross. Worshiped by angels. The angels cover their eyes. Read Isaiah chapter 6. They cover
their eyes. And they cover their feet. And
they cry, holy, holy, holy. And here he is on a cross, dying,
men spitting in his face, mocking him while he dies on the cross. Oh, it's unique because of the
dignity of his character. He said, which of you accuseth
me of sin? Huh? And if I speak the truth, why
don't you believe me? What dignity in His person. This is one whose whole life
was sung up in this. He went about doing good. There's
none good but Him. Because there's none good but
God. And He went about His whole life doing good, and yet here
He is nailed to a cross. His sufferings are unique because
of the severity and the scope of them, the mass
of it. I just can't even fathom such
a thing. And because of the dignity of
His person, and then thirdly, because of the innocence of the
sufferer, He didn't do anything. I don't want to suffer, but if
I did, and I'll say this as a blanket statement covering all humanity,
all suffering, whatever it is that we suffer, we suffer it
justly. We deserve it. That's right. We deserve it. All of suffering
humanity, the sorrow is just and deserved, but here dies a
man who did no crime. Pilate said, I find no fault
in this just man. Satan came to him and found nothing
in him. Nothing. His whole life he went
about doing good. He tended the sick and the poor.
He never refused a request. Never did. He claimed no possessions. He asked nothing in return for
his service. And he loved those that hated
him and despised him. And out of his greatest suffering,
he cried, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. See on the tree a man who suffers,
who has no reason in himself to suffer. And then add to this
that he volunteered for it. That's right, he volunteered
for it. He was under no compulsion that he himself could not control.
He dies, but before he dies, he tells them this, no man taketh
my life from me, I lay it down. That mob come to get him, and
he said, I am, and they fell back on the ground. He's betrayed into the hands
of wicked men, but he lets us know if he so desired, He could
ask of the Father and he'd send 12 legions of angels, 12,000
angels to rescue him. He had opportunity to speak on
his own behalf to one who had a sympathetic ear. Pilate said,
don't you answer me, don't you know I have the power to set
you free? He had a sympathetic ear, but
he opened not his mouth. brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shears is dung, so he opened not his
mouth. Only a voluntary supper we keep
silent. And then consider those who afflicted
him. Peter describes them in his message
at Pentecost. He said that you have taken,
God confirmed him and approved him, and then you took him and
by wicked hands have crucified and slain him. They're not a word of truth in
all their accusations. Their witnesses must be paid.
The betrayer must be paid. The guards who kept the tomb
must be bribed lest they believe in the resurrection of Christ.
They were paid to lie. Pilate must be intimidated to
make his choice. And the crowd must be stirred. who can read of the sufferings
of Christ and find a just man in all the crowd. But what makes
his sufferings unique the most is that God Himself afflicted
him. My soul. Stand on a hill and
look. Peter said that in that great
sermon that he preached to the Jews there at Pentecost, he said,
let me tell you something. Baptist Christ. He said, when
Pilate and Herod came together, and the Gentiles and the Jews
came together, and then they all got into one band, they came
against Him. And He said, and what they did
was determined by God's hand and God's counsel before to be
done. This is God. Yes, a man slapped
to his face. Who allowed that? Huh? Now either God rules over that
or He doesn't rule over anything. He rules over all things, don't
He? He worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.
That man spit into the face of the Son of God. Who allowed that?
This is God. This suffering Savior is suffering
at the hand of God. But why would God raise His hand
to humiliate, convict, condemn an innocent man. It does not say that God allowed
him to be tormented. It says He hath put him to grief. His cry on the cross was not,
O man, O man, why have you forsaken me? But, My God, My God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Oh, this is what makes it so
significant. He suffered at the hand of God.
And here's the last thing I want to point out to you. His sufferings
was the word the old writers used, expiatory. What that means
is he suffered for somebody else. He was wounded, the scripture
said, for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The
chastisement of our peace was upon him. All we like sheep have
gone astray. We turned every one to his own
way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. And who shall declare his generation? Where are his sons? That's what
he's asking here. Who's going to declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken." God made his soul, it says in Isaiah, an offering
for sin. And when God made his soul an
offering for sin, he saw the seed. He saw the spiritual seed. He saw the great offspring, the
fruit of his sufferings and death. He saw... Who's going to declare
it? God's going to declare it. He saw the offspring. He saw
the son. He saw the fruit of his sufferings
and death. And therefore the Lord prolonged
his days that the pleasure of the Lord would prosper in his
hands. He saw the righteous travail
of his soul and was satisfied. And by this knowledge, his knowledge,
knowing him who suffered, knowing him in whom the pleasure of the
Lord shall prosper, we shall be justified. for He
shall bear their iniquities." Here's the thing. We not only
pass by and ignore the sufferings, but we ignore the sufferings
of Him who died for our sins. You see, sin is not against law. Sin is against love. I can't explain this, He looked
down on that rebellious bunch of Jews and he put his arms out
and he said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered
you like a hen does her chick, but you would not. It's not just that he suffered,
but he suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust. Is it
nothing to you? This one suffering suffers for
another. Is it nothing to you, all you
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. Does it seem a distant thing,
an incomprehensible thing that one so noble and excellent should
die for you? Don't you have trouble with that? Dare I believe that one so noble,
so dignified, so great in glory and honor would condescend to
such depths and suffering as he did on the cross? Dare I think
he did that for me? Oh, listen. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners. Paul said, of whom I am chief. I am chief. You know that verse, do you know
the next one? How be it for this cause I obtain
mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering
for a pattern to them which should live hereafter and should hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting. God did it for a pattern. Dare
I think that the Lord died for me? He died for the chief of
sinners. the chief of sinners. Now listen
to me a minute. What if you were one for whom
he died? What if you are one that he redeemed
through his precious blood? Is he going to have what he bought? Can you look at those sufferings
and believe that He's not going to have what He bought? Can you
look and see the hand of God smiting His Son and the suffering
that He did? A suffering of soul made His
soul an offering for sin. Can you look at that and honestly
tell me that that was in vain? It's not in vain. He's going
to have whom He bought. And you know what He's going
to do with those He bought? He's going to cross their path
with this gospel. he's going to cause them to pass by. And he's going to cause them
to consider this question, is it nothing to you? Is it nothing
to you? Oh, no, it's all to me. Oh, all you passers-by, he said,
behold and see. Is there any more required? Is
there anything left to pay? Is his sorrow and death not sufficient
to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by him? All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. They're going to
come in hope and come for forgiveness and come without compromise and
come for compassion and come in desperation. And of all those
that come, he said, I will in no wise cast one out. Even those who cried, crucify
him, crucify him. Even those who saw him a
pretender. Even those who mocked his offices and claims while he died on the
cross. Even those like Paul who held the coats of God's enemies
as they stoned his preacher. He that cometh to me I will in
no wise cast out. And that's why God's brought
you here today. Now, is it nothing to you, all you that pass by? Well, if it's not everything,
it's nothing. It's nothing. And he leaves us with a word
of warning. I want you to look here in your Bibles, down here
in Lamentations chapter 1. Look at verse 21. They have heard
that I sigh, that there is none to comfort me. All mine enemies
have heard of my trouble, and they're glad. They're glad that
you did it, all my enemies. Thou wilt bring the day that
thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me. Let all their
wickedness come before thee, and do unto them as thou hast
done unto me. What a word of warning! Those
who do not see Christ as all in His sufferings, all sufficient, all sufficient, I tell you there
is sufficiency in His sufferings when we see Him, to motivate
us unto love. There is sufficiency in those
sufferings to cause us to forgive the chief of our enemies, and
love them that use us and do despitefully unto us." Huh? Can't you find a sufficiency
there? Have you suffered? Is your suffering anywhere near
to be compared to His? Oh, I tell you, let those sufferings
be all. And the man to whom they're not
all, He said in that day, He said, let that be done to them
which was done to Me. Oh, our God, what pitiful, what pitiful words we have for such a glorious one as thyself. and how dependent we are on your
Spirit. O Spirit of God, take these words
this morning and press them upon our hearts for Christ's sake.
Amen.