Now we're turning one more time
to Lamentation, or this time, chapter 1, verse 12. Let's read
this verse again. Is it nothing to you, all ye
that passing by this way? Behold, that is, you stop and
you take a look at this, and see if there be any sorrow like
unto my sorrow, which is done unto me. Wherewith the Lord,
Jehovah, hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger."
Anger. What is that text talking about? What is it directing us unto? The title of the message today,
What Happened at the Cross? What Happened at Calvary? The text found in this book of
Lamentation chapter 1 verse 12. May we, by God's grace, be like
Paul, God's servant, determined to know nothing else among you
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the sum and substance of all
of our salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. All Scripture is given by the
sovereign purpose and inspiration of God to teach us the way of
salvation through and in the Lord Jesus Christ. All scriptures
given by God the Holy Spirit to point us unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. May God give us eyes to look
to Him. May God give us ears to cause
us to hear Him. Because there is salvation in
no other. Peter declared that unto those
that day who arrested him for healing the crippled man there
in the temple. He declared, neither is there
salvation in any other. There is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Again in the
book of Acts, all the prophets give witness unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. Again in Romans 15, whatsoever
things are written aforetime are written for our learning.
Talking about all Old Testament scripture is given to teach us
the gospel. Our Lord said to those Jews,
you are they which search the scripture, and they did, but
they missed the message. You are they that search the
Scriptures, but in them you think you have eternal life, but they
are they which testify of me, the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatsoever
things are written aforetime are written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might
have hope. All of our salvation is in the
person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not some of it, all of
it. All of our hope of being justified before God is by the
free and sovereign grace of God alone through the redemption
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're justified freely by His
grace through, through, don't ever leave that part out. through
the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. All scripture,
Old Testament and New, all point to the Lord Jesus Christ. As they said years ago in the
Roman Empire, all roads lead to Rome. Even so is true in God's
Word, God's Holy Book. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and all Scripture teaches us and points us unto the Lord
Jesus Christ. This text is no difference. Lamentation
1.12. Down through church history we
find many of God's servants, God's preachers using this scripture
to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ from this very text. I'm not the first and won't be
the last. We find in the book of Jeremiah,
God's prophet in the book of Lamentation rather, God's prophet
Jeremiah weeping and lamenting the awful destruction of Jerusalem
at the hand of the Babylonian Empire. Several things we read
in the closing of the book of Jeremiah chapter 52. We find
the king of Israel, Zedekiah, had been taken captive and his
sons put to death before him and then they put out his eyes.
They blinded him. The last sight he saw was the
death of his sons. The temple built by Solomon was
defiled, ransacked, stripped of its possessions, and burned
to the ground. All the priests of God were taken
and put to death." We find all this in Jeremiah 52. Thousands
were carried away into captivity for 70 years. And many more thousands
were put to death there in Jerusalem. All this destruction came upon
this city, this people by the hand of Almighty God for one
reason. Because of their iniquity, because
of their sin, the Lord hath done this. Notice in Lamentations
chapter 1 verse 5, her adversaries are cheap, her enemies prosper,
for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions,
her children are gone into captivity before the enemy." Jeremiah,
through his whole prophecy, warned, judgment's coming, judgment coming,
judgment coming, put Baal away, put the idols away, worship God,
judgment's coming, judgment coming. Now it's here. Now it's here. Jeremiah, as you read chapter
1, weeps as he beholds the destruction of his beloved city, Jerusalem.
He sees the destruction of the temple, the ransacking, the defilement
of all those sacred things about the holy place and the holy of
holies all ruined and he weeps and he laments this awful destruction. But My desire is not to point
you to a city besieged and destroyed. My desire is to point you to
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. How the Lord Jesus
Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. I believe this
text here in Lamentation 1 verse 12 tells us much of what happened
at Calvary. What really happened at the cross? Do you know? Are you interested? Most people know something gruesome
happened. Most people know something of
a historical fact that a man named Jesus was crucified. But
few have any real interest to really find out what happened
there. I believe this scripture along with all of God's Word
will help us to understand what God was doing at the cross. Now we see a lot and we talk
about what men did at the cross, but I'm not really interested
in what they were doing. I'm interested in what God was
doing there at the cross. Now I want you to imagine in
your mind as the Lord Jesus Christ dies upon Calvary's tree, and
all this bloody gore, all this bloody horror of six hours of
agonizing death, and hear Him say as He hangs on Calvary's
tree, hear Him utter these words from His lips, as all those that
pass by, and as you pass by today, is it nothing to you? All you
that pass by? Now, What happened at the cross? In Matthew 27, 36, we read a
moment ago, sitting down, they watched him there. What did they
see? Most saw a bloody, beaten, bruised
body of this man from Nazareth. nailed to a tree and simply passed
by and said, it's nothing to me. That's just another Jew dying,
nothing to me. Some passed by and wagged their
head and mocked. You remember what they said?
They reviled him, wagging their head, saying, thou destroyest
the temple and buildest again three days. Save thyself, thou
be the son of God. Come down from the cross and
thou will believe you. You think they would have? No. Not apart from God's power. Not
apart from God's grace. I have four points to this message.
Here's number one. We see what happened at Calvary. We see the Lord of Glory suffering
like no one else. The Lord of glory, the God-man
mediator, God in human flesh, a real man, but still yet God. Totally God and totally man.
And we see the Lord Jesus Christ suffering like no other. Enormous,
untold, indescribable, unparalleled suffering. Notice the words he
said, behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,
which is done unto me. Stop and look, behold, behold
this sight. Stop and look and gaze. Truly
and rightly the Lord Jesus Christ is called in Holy Scripture the
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. You remember Isaiah
53 where it says, He despised and rejected of men? He is a
man of sorrows. He is acquainted with grief.
And we hear as it were our faces from Him. He was despised and
we esteemed Him not. Our estimation by nature of the
Lord Jesus Christ and His person is, He's nothing to me, just
a word where I may curse God by. In Isaiah 52, 14 we read
this, His visage, His person, His body so marred more than
any man. His back was lacerated, scourged. They planted a crown of thorns
and crushed it down on His brow. They took that reed that they
put in His hand and took it from Him and hit Him about. They spit
in His face. They plucked His beard. They
hit Him with an open hand. No one suffered as this man suffered. He didn't even look like a man
hanging on that tree, so beaten, so battered. Psalm 22, we read,
the Lord said, I'm poured out like water, all my bones are
out of joint, my heart is like wax, it's melted in the midst
of my bowels. Our Lord dies, the death reserved
for the most vile felons. being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Crucifixion in that day was reserved
for the most grievous offender, for the most vilest offender.
The Lord of Glory subjected Himself to the scorn of wicked men, to
the mocking and beating of a soldier, to the ridicule of the Pharisees,
the cowardly treatment both of Herod and Pilate, the false accusations
of the high priest. Pilate said, Behold your King.
Remember what the Jeren crowd said? Give us Barabbas. Give us that thief. We have no
king but Caesar. Away with him. Crucify him. He
submitted himself to the execution by these godless, God-hating
Roman soldiers. His physical agony, his mental
agony, beyond human words. I can't find the word to describe
the agony. No one ever suffered like he
suffered. No one. No one. Now, I would
not minimize his physical sufferings, but if that's all you can see,
if that's all you know, You missed what happened at the cross. I
mean you flat missed it. I would not minimize his physical
torment and pain, but if that's all you can see, come back and
look again. Come back and look again. Look
again with an eye of faith and ask God to show you something
of his soul agony upon the cross. His soul agony upon the cross. It says in Isaiah 53, 10, it
pleased the Lord to bruise him, it pleased the Lord to put him
to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
guilty before God for sin. It says in Isaiah 53, 12, he
poured out his soul unto death. Death by crucifixion was not
only painful, but shameful. He dies a cursed death to show
that he bore the curse of the law for his people. For it says
in Galatians 3 that he redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us. Curse is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. That's why He was hanging out
on that tree, to show that He was made a curse for us, that
He was made sin for us. His physical pain pales in comparison
to His soul agony as He endures a holy wrath of God for our sin. We see much of the holy hatred
and wrath of men, but what we don't see is a holy wrath of
God against sin. That's what happened at the cross.
As the Lord Jesus Christ endures the heat of God's wrath as he
bears our sin, our sin in his own body on the tree. That's what happened at the cross.
And then consider this. Consider this. He is the only
one who never deserved to suffer, did he? We read in Hebrews 7,
such a high priest became us who is holy, who is harmless,
who is undefiled, and separate from sin. And consider this,
he had the power to prevent sufferings, yet he suffers like no other.
They could not put a hand on him until the appointed hour.
Many times they came to arrest him, to throw him over the hill,
or to stone him, and they couldn't touch him until he said, now
my hour has come. He had the power to prevent suffering,
yet he suffers like no other. You remember in the garden when
they came to arrest him, and Peter betrayed him with a kiss,
or may Judas, Judas betrayed him with a kiss, and Peter drew
his sword to defend the Lord, and cut off that servant's ear?
Remember what the Lord said, Peter, put up your sword. Don't
you know I could call for 12 legions of angels to wipe out
every one of these men? You know how many 12 legions
of angels? That's 70,000 angels. You remember
what one angel did back against the armies of Assyria? Thousands
and thousands and thousands were slain. You see, the Lord had
power to prevent these sufferings and yet He knows He must die
to put away our sin. He suffers like no other. Behold,
and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which was
done unto me." Now here's the second point. We can see from
this scripture and others that these sufferings come by the
sovereign and eternal purpose of God. This is what we must
understand. Calvary is no accident. It's
not a mistake. Look what it says there. 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. You see that? The Lord hath afflicted
me in the day of his fierce anger. The Lord Jesus Christ looks beyond
the instrument of the cross to the author of the cross and says,
it's of the Lord. Remember, our Lord said to his
apostles, I must go to Jerusalem. I must be betrayed. I must be
killed. I must be buried. I must be raised
from the dead. And Peter said, no way, no way. You're not gonna die. You're
not gonna, we can't go to Jerusalem. And the Lord said, you get out
of my way. Thou sabrest not the things that
be of God. You see, Calvary's of the Lord. the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
looks beyond the instrument of the cross to the author of the
cross and said it's of the Lord. You see the wicked work that
men did that day was not enough to accomplish our salvation was
it? Was it the nails they drove? Was it the spear they put in
his side? Was it the beating that they gave him? None of those
things accomplished our salvation. It's not what men did that day.
That's not our hope. It's what God was doing. That's
our hope. The work wicked men did was not
enough to accomplish our redemption. It's what God was doing at the
cross. That's our hope of salvation
in Christ. The crucifixion and death of
the Lord Jesus Christ is no accident, is it? He dies on purpose, on
purpose. He's not just a helpless victim
of unjust men, but the appointed sacrifice of a thrice holy God. He dies by the determinate counsel
of God. Now here are three things we
always need to remember about Jesus Christ crucified. I've
given these to you more than one time, but it bears repeating. First of all, God planned the
cross, didn't he? God Almighty from all eternity
planned Jesus Christ dying for our sins at the appointed time.
It is true the Pharisees went out and held a council how they
might destroy Him. You remember when He healed that
man who had the withered hand on the Sabbath day and He said,
stretch forth your hand and He did. But the power, command of
Christ And the Pharisees got upset, and they went out and
held a council how they might destroy him. But God in the council
halls of eternity determined the outcome of their meeting,
listen to the scripture, him being delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken him by wicked
hands, have crucified and slain the Lord of glory. They did what
their wicked hearts wanted to do, right? I mean, they hated
him, especially the Pharisees. And the Romans did league with
them, caved in to their desires, and Pilate caved in to the desires
of the Pharisees. And they did what their wicked
hearts wanted to do, but in doing so, they executed the purpose
of God. You remember that scripture from
Acts chapter 4? where it talks about Herod and Pontius Pilate
and the Jews and Gentiles were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. You see, He
died the appointed death at the appointed time, the appointed
way, for the appointed people, to the appointed purpose, the
glory of God, the salvation of His people. They did what they
wanted to do, but they executed God's purpose. You see, our Lord
Jesus Christ was a lamb slain before the foundation of the
world. And in time the Lamb came, and the Lamb was sacrificed. John the Baptist, the forerunner
of Christ, identified Him, behold, the Lamb of God. This is that
Lamb that was determined from all eternity that the Lord Jesus
Christ would come and die in our room and in our stead as
the sacrificial Lamb to put away our sin. In the fullness of time
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law
to redeem them that were under the law. Remember now, who planned
the cross? God Almighty did, from all eternity. Before Adam ever fell, before
there was ever a sinner, the Lord Jesus Christ stood as the
Savior, as a surety of His covenant people. That's so. Secondly,
remember this about the cross. It says, "...wherewith the Lord
hath afflicted me." and a day of His fierce anger. God not
only planned the cross, He presided over it. He was in charge that day, wasn't
He? Remember what Pilate said, don't you know I have power to
crucify you or to let you go? Remember? And the Lord said,
you don't have any power over me at all except that which I
give you. You see, Pilate thought he's
in charge, but all along, God Almighty's in charge. Our Lord
corrected him quickly, said, Thou couldst have no power over
me, except it be given thee of God, the power that thee are
ordained of God. My friend, God was in charge
that day, wasn't he? Has there ever been a time when
God has not been in charge? You see, God presided over the
cross. Our God is a sovereign eternal
who rules and reigns over all things. Our Lord gave Himself
to be our sacrifice for our sin. No man took His life. You remember we studied in John
chapter 10 where the Lord said, No man takes my life from me.
I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. God planned the cross. God presided
over the cross. Thirdly, God participated. God participated in afflicting
His dear Son. We know that it pleased Pilate
to condemn Him. We know it pleased the Pharisees
to see Him die. They hated Him. The Roman soldiers,
they were pleased to put another Jew to death. It didn't bother
them. But what we must see, what we must understand, that it pleased
God to bruise him in our room. The work men did that day at
Calvary was not sufficient to put away our sin. What God did
at the cross, that's our hope. smitten of God and afflicted. Listen to this scripture in Zechariah
chapter 7. Awake, O sword! Against my shepherd,
against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, smite
the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. I'll turn my hand
upon the little one. Awake, O sword! That's the sword
of God's justice. That's what happened at Calvary.
Smitten and afflicted of God. Now here's the third point. look
back to the text, 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 the Lord now Jehovah hath afflicted
me now here's the third question why did God afflict him? why
did God afflict him? look what it says there in the
day of his fierce anger, anger Now, most people look at the
cross and see only the display of man's anger, and that is there. But few see God's anger at the
cross. The cross is seen by most only
as a display of man's anger, but few have seen it as a display
of God's fierce anger. Now here's the heart of the matter. Here's the heart of the gospel.
Here's the center of the gospel. How can a holy God be angry with
his holy Son? Think about it. How can God forsake
God? My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Listen to these scriptures. The
foolish shall not stand in his sight. Thou hatest all workers
of iniquity. God judges the righteous. God
is angry with the wicked every day. God can only be angry over
sin. He is too holy to look upon sin
with favor. The wages of sin is death. The
soul that sinneth must die. Habakkuk says, Thou art pure
of eyes to behold evil and cannot look upon iniquity. Arthur Pinck
described the holiness of God, the anger, and His righteous
anger over sin. He said His anger over sin is
a result of His holiness stirred in activity against sin. That's
a pretty good definition. His anger over sin is the result
of His holiness stirred in activity over sin being found in Him. If the Lord Jesus Christ, then,
on Calvary Street, is the object of God's wrath, He must be, now
listen to me, He must be guilty as charged. He must be guilty of sin. But the Scripture declares of
him that he had no sin. The Scripture declares of him
that he did no sin. The Scripture declares of him
he knew no sin. Such a high priest became one
who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sin. Did we
miss something here? Even his enemy said, Judas said,
I betrayed innocent blood. Pilate said not once but three
times, I find no fault in the man. The Roman soldier, we read
a moment ago, said, truly this is the Son of God, truly this
is the righteous man. He was indeed guilty of sin,
but none that he personally committed. He is guilty of sin by the Father
laying on him the sin of God that let The Lord laid on Him
our iniquity and our sin. Not all the sin of all people
everywhere, but the sin of a certain people, a particular people given
unto Him. He's guilty of sin, but only
guilty by imputation. Listen to Psalm 40. He says,
"...for innumerable evils have encompassed me about." This is
a Messianic Psalm concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him dying for us. He said, "...for innumerable
evils have encompassed me about, mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me, so I'm not able to look up there more than the hairs
of my head." He calls our sin, charged to Him, His own sin. He identified with our humanity
and He identified with our sin, being made sin for us. Isaiah 53 says, "...all we like
sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to his own way,
and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. He bared the sin of many and
made intercession for transgression." In a few words, and what happened
at the cross. Substitution. Substitution. God made Him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Christ suffered once for our
sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God.
That's substitution. Substitution. That's a beautiful,
beautiful truth in Scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ dies in
our room and in our stead, fully accomplishing our salvation.
And then the second word we want to look at is satisfaction. Satisfaction. He satisfied God's law and justice. He satisfied every penalty of
that law, every precept of that law. He honored it and satisfied
the penalty of that law in His death. He shall see the travail
of His soul and shall be satisfied. Substitution, satisfaction, I
like this word too, success. He said, it's finished. It's
finished. Never view the Lord Jesus Christ crucified as a failure. It's not a failing, it is victory. It's victory over sin, death,
hell, and the grave. He comes forth as a mighty conqueror,
as the victory, accomplishing our salvation for us. Substitution,
satisfaction, success. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Did He
get the job done? Yes, He did. When sin was found
on the Lord Jesus Christ, when God made Him sin for us, the
holy wrath of God, justice, fell on Him and spent itself completely. He made full atonement for our
sin. Therefore, there is therefore
now no condemnation. to those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The apostle put it this way,
he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who
can lay anything to the charge of God the left? It is God that
justifies, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ who has died. Yea,
rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also makes intercession for us. He put away our sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. He said, it is finished. For by one offering has He perfected
forever them that are sanctified. His atonement is so complete
and powerful and perfect and perpetual, He said, their sin
and their iniquity will I remember no more. This sinner has no more
sin. God cannot charge me with sin
because He's charged it to my substitute. As the old songwriter
said, God's justice can't twice demand. First at my bleeding
charity's hand and then again at mine that'd make Him unjust.
No condemnation to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, back in Lamentation 1 verse
12. Look at verse 12, the first part
of verse 12. Now, here's what I want you to
consider. What is Christ crucified to you?
Is it nothing to you? All ye that pass by? What is
your estimation of Jesus Christ and crucified, Him crucified?
I know this to be true. God leaving us to our own wicked
thoughts, our own carnal understanding, we would reply, it's nothing
to me. It's just nothing to me. You
see, the carnal mind receiveth not the things of God. The preaching
of the cross we read in 1 Corinthians 1. The preaching of the cross
is to them that perish are perishing foolishness, but unto us which
are saved is the power of God, the wisdom of God. We preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews, a stumbling block, unto the Greeks,
foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ, the power of God. Christ the wisdom of God. We
can say with the Apostle Paul, I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. It's the power of God and the salvation to everyone
who believes. To approach God upon any other
ground than Christ crucified is absolute folly, isn't it?
Not only is that true, but it's also to charge God with folly
in the death of His beloved Son. If righteousness comes by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain. Our Lord said, I am the way,
I am the truth, I am the life, no man come to the Father but
by and through me. Indifferent to the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ is deadly and damning to your soul. Our
Lord said, those that are not with me are against me. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus, Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha, when the Lord comes.
Let him be accursed when the Lord comes. Our Lord said again,
he that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on
him. To some, Christ crucified is
just, it's just nothing, isn't it? I mean, it's just nothing.
To others, Christ crucified is something, but not everything. But by God's grace, there are
some who were brought by His power, His grace, to see the
Lord Jesus Christ crucified as all our salvation, as all our
righteousness before God, as all our hope before a thrice
holy God. We say with the Apostle, God
forbid I should glory say in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that your hope? Is that your
plea? Do you have any other before
God? But the Lord Jesus Christ died
for me. You see, Christ is all and in
all. May God help us to be determined
as the Apostle Paul to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified
as all of our salvation, as all of our righteousness. To know
nothing more? You mean, I don't want to know anything more than
that, do you? That's all the counsel of God. To know nothing
more, to know nothing less, to know nothing else but Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Read that text one more time.
You see, it's a gospel text, isn't it? To Him we have all
the prophets witness. Is it nothing to you? All ye
that pass by, passing by this way, 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. Oh may God give us eyes to see
Christ crucified as our substitute, as our savior, as our lamb, as
our righteousness before God. Amen.