Now you turn in your Bible to
Lamentation. Book of Lamentation, chapter
1 and verse 12. Lamentation, chapter 1 and verse
12. The title of the message today
is Question. What happened at Calvary? What happened at the cross? My text is found in Lamentation
1, verse 12. You got it there? 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. Anger. Now I pray the Lord will
bless us together and I pray the Lord will enable me to speak
on this most vital subject of Christ crucified. Christ crucified. May God be pleased to give us
insight. And may we be as determined as
the Apostle Paul not to know anything in the way of salvation
and righteousness but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I know this, all scripture is
given by God. All Scripture is given by the
sovereign purpose of God to teach us the way of God's saving mercy
in Christ Jesus. And this Scripture is no different.
This Scripture we find in the Lamentation tells us much of
what God was doing that day at Calvary's cross, on Calvary's
hill. All Scripture is given of God.
All Scripture is God-breathed to point us to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Neither is there salvation in
any other but in the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Acts chapter
10, to him give all the prophets witness, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses,
David, all the prophets give witness to the Lord Jesus Christ,
his person and his glorious work. To him give all the prophets
witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall
receive the remission of sins. Romans 15 declares, whatsoever
things were written aforetime, were written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might
have hope. Comfort and patience and the
foundation of hope is found in, thus saith the Lord. All our hope of salvation is
wrapped up in the glorious person and work of Jesus Christ. All
of our hope of ever being justified before God who is holy is by
the grace of God alone. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. All
scriptures given to teach us the gospel. All Scripture from
Genesis all the way through Revelation. The whole canon of Scripture
is telling us and declaring one message. Salvation in Christ
Jesus. Salvation in Him. As they used
to say years ago in the Roman Empire, they had a saying that
said, all roads lead to Rome. And that is true when we talk
about the Scripture. This book we call the Bible,
all Scripture leads to Christ. You see, He died for our sins
according to the Scriptures. He was buried, raised again,
according to, thus saith the Lord, according to the Scriptures.
Now, down through church history, we find God's preachers using
this Scripture in Lamentations 1-12. using this particular scripture
to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now we find in the book of Lamentations
God's prophet Jeremiah weeping and lamenting the awful destruction
of Jerusalem at the hand of the invading armies. They decimated
this city. The king of Israel, Zedekiah,
had been taken captive, and his sons were killed before his eyes. And then the enemies burnt his
eyes out, and he remained in prison the rest of his life.
The last thing he ever remembered seeing was the death of his children. And then they carried him away,
and he was held in prison. until his death. The temple built
by Solomon was defiled and ransacked and stripped of its possessions.
You ever wondered where the Ark of the Covenant went? That's
where it went. They carried those articles in
the tabernacle in the temple. They carried them back and defiled
them with idolatry back in Babylon. Burned to the ground. The priest,
all the priests of God were taken captive and put to death. You
can see the decimation and no wonder that Jeremiah is weeping
and lamenting as he beholds this scene. Thousands were carried
away captive for many years, 70 years, and many thousands
were put to death. All this destruction came upon
them by the hand of Almighty God as it says There the Lord
hath commanded concerning Jacob. The Lord hath trodden underfoot
all the mighty men. And Jeremiah weeps as he beholds
the destruction of the city. Now the story of my message and
my message is not the destruction of that city, although that is
there. You can read that historical account that is there in the
closing chapters of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 52, it tells
us about some of those things that took place. But my story
is not about a city. My story and my message is about
the Christ of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, how He died for our sin
according to the Scripture, according to the Word of God. I want to
use the words found here in Lamentation chapter 1, verse 12, and preach
to you the gospel of Jesus Christ. Is it nothing to you? Is it nothing
to you? I want you to try to visualize
in your mind the Lord Jesus Christ speaking these words from Calvary's
tree as He's beholding those before Him that's mocking Him,
that's railing on Him, that are passing by, that are wagging
their head, and He's saying to them, is it nothing to you? All ye that pass by, behold and
see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which was done
unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his
fierce anger. Is it nothing to you?" What happened
at Calvary? History records that someone
named Jesus of Nazareth died. That's a historical fact. Undisputable
fact. But is that all you know? Is
that all you see? Is that all you know of what
happened at Calvary? In Matthew 27 verse 36, we read
a moment ago, sitting down, they watched him there. They watched
him die. They watched him bleed. They
watched him suffer. What did they see in that day?
Most saw a bloody, beaten, bruised body of a man from Nazareth nailed
to a tree and simply passed by and said, it's nothing to me. It's absolutely nothing to me. Some passed by and wagged their
head and mocked him. They passed by and reviled him,
wagging their heads, saying, you destroyed the temple? You
say you're going to build it again in three days? Well, if
you be the Son of God, you come down from the cross and we'll
believe you. Now, here's four things I want
you to see in this message. And it's a message about what
happened at Calvary. Here's the first point is this.
We see the Lord of glory The Lord of Glory, God incarnate,
God manifest in the flesh. Now you think about that. When
those vile men beat him and mocked him as the king, he is king. When they crushed that crown
of thorns down upon his head and beat him with a reed, bowed
the knee and mocked him, cleared their throat and spit in his
face, that's God. Almighty. Don't tell me we're
not depraved sinners when you see that scene. We see, first
of all, the Lord of Glory suffering like no other human being ever
suffered. Enormous suffering. Untold suffering. Indescribable suffering. Unparalleled
suffering. Notice the words of the text.
Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. Anybody suffered like this man
suffered? Truly and rightly he is called
in Holy Scripture, Man of Sorrows. What a name for the Son of God
who came. Isaiah wrote of him, he despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,
and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and
we esteemed him not. Isaiah 52, 14 declares His visage,
His face, so marred more than any man. He was beaten so severely
and His face so swollen and bruised with the blood oozing out, He
didn't even look like a man. Stripped naked on that tree,
beaten, His back lacerated before they nailed Him there. He didn't even look like a human
being. His visage so marred more than
any man. In Psalm 22 we read, Our 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 vilest felons. The worst of the violators were
nailed to a tree. And yet our Lord humbled himself.
He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. No one suffers like the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord of glory subjected himself
to the scorn of wicked men. to the mocking and beating of
a soldier, the ridicule of the Pharisees, the cowardly treatment
of Herod and Pilate, the false accusations of the high priest.
If you be the son of God, he is. Pilate brought him forth
that day and said, Behold your king. Remember what they said?
Away with him. Crucify him. We have no king
but Caesar. Away with him. We don't want
anything to do with him. You kill him. He submitted himself
to the execution by the godless Romans. He laid down his life. His physical and mental agony
is beyond human words. I can't find words to describe
it. He suffers like no other. Behold and see if there be any
sorrow like my sorrow. I would not minimize his physical
suffering. But if that's all you can see,
and if that's all you know, the half's not been told. Come back
and look again. Come back and look again if that's
all you see, his physical suffering. I wouldn't minimize his physical
suffering. But if that's all you know, if that's all you see,
come back again. Behold the Lord Jesus Christ
again, on Calvary Street. Look again with an eye of faith
and ask God to show you something of His soul agony upon the cross. Isaiah 53, He hath put him to
grief. The Lord hath put him to grief
when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin. Isaiah 53,
12 declares He poured out His soul unto death. Death by crucifixion
was not only painful, but it was a shameful death. He dies
the accursed death to show that he bore the curse of the law
for his people. You remember that scripture in
Galatians chapter 3? He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us, for cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. And that's what happened on Calvary's
cross. His physical pain pales in comparison
to his soul agony as he endured the holy wrath of God for my
sin. As he bears our sin in his own
body on the tree, suffering as a believer's substitute, suffering
the sin of all of God's elect that were laid upon him, he suffers
in his holy character as our sin is revealed unto him and
he is made sin. He suffers. In His holy character,
He agonizes over our sin. Now consider this. Consider this. He's the only one who never deserved
to suffer. He's the only one who never deserved
to suffer. I deserve wrath and judgment. He didn't deserve it. He never
deserved the suffering. We read in Scripture that He
is high, He is holy, He is harmless, He is undefiled, He never committed
sin. He never deserved to suffer.
And consider this, He had the power to prevent these sufferings,
and yet He suffers like no other. Remember when they came to arrest
Him? Remember what Peter did? He drew
the sword. Peter was a fisherman. He wasn't
a swordsman. He wasn't a soldier. He drew the sword to defend his
Lord, and he took a swipe with that sword. He's aiming for that
fellow's neck. And he got his ear. Remember
what the Lord told him? Peter, put up your sword. I don't
need your help. Don't you know I could call for
twelve legions of angels to wipe out that army in a heartbeat?
But then he said, How shall the Scripture be fulfilled if I don't
go to Calvary's tree and Peter die for your sin? Peter, put
up your sword. Salvation is not by our doing,
it's by His dying. Put up your sword! Put up your
works! Rest in Christ. Rest in Him. He suffers like no other. That's
the first point. You got it? Physical suffering. His soul, agony, being made sin. Bearing my sin. All the sin of
God's people in His body on the tree. Secondly is this, we can
see from this scripture and others that these sufferings come by
the sovereign and eternal purpose of God. Look at that text again.
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. These sufferings come from the
hand of God Almighty, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me."
And here's what's going on. The Lord Jesus Christ looks beyond
the instrument of the cross to the author of the cross and says,
this is of God. This is of the Lord. I want you
to hold your place there, and I want you to turn to Matthew
16. I want you to see this. This is Matthew 16. The Lord
Jesus Christ His death, His crucifixion was not an accident. He died
on purpose. He died by the purpose of God.
In Matthew 16 verse 21, from that time forth, Jesus, from
that time forth, began Jesus to show unto His disciples how
that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things of the elders
and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised again
the third day. And Peter took Him. and began
to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall
not be." You see, he didn't understand at this point that he must die
as the substitute. But he turned and he said to
Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me,
for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men. He's saying that this cross and
being crucified is at the hand of God Almighty. You see, the
work that wicked men did that day was not enough to accomplish
our redemption, was it? It wasn't what wicked men did
that day. That's not our hope. It's what
God was doing at the cross. That's our hope of salvation. The crucifixion and death of
the Lord Jesus Christ were no accident. He's not the helpless
victim of unjust men. He's the appointed sacrifice
of a holy God. This is God's Lamb dying for
sinners. This is God's Lamb. Behold the
Lamb of God that's offered unto God to satisfy God's offended
justice on our behalf. Now remember three things. Three
things about the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all,
this is God's sacrifice. This is God's Lamb. The Lord
Jesus Christ is a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
So we know, first of all, God planned the cross. It's not an
afterthought. The Lord Jesus Christ is a Lamb
slain from eternity and in time He came. God planned the cross. That is true. In Scripture, the
Pharisees 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. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain. They did what their wicked hearts
desired to do. No doubt about that. But in doing
so, they executed the purpose of God Almighty. It says in Acts
chapter 4 verse 26, and following, that Herod and Pontius Pilate,
you know, they were enemies, but they came together against
the Lord and against His Christ. For to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined afore to be done. He suffers the hand
of God by the purpose of God. You see the cross, plan of God
from all eternity. Second thing, remember this,
about Christ crucified. God planned the cross. Secondly,
God presided over the cross. You know Pilate thought he was
in charge that day, didn't he? Don't you know, he says to the
Lord, don't you know I have power to crucify you or I have the
power to let you go? What did the Lord say? You don't have any power over
me, except that which my Father gives you. The powers that be
are ordained of God. Pilate thought he was in charge,
but the Lord corrected him quickly. God Almighty is in charge of
all things. My friend, God is the sovereign
God. He's always in charge of all
things, but especially on this day. Especially on this day,
God presides over every detail of Christ crucified. Our God
eternally and sovereignly rules and reigns over all things, all
things of Him and through Him. All things are of God. Our Lord
gave Himself to be our sacrifice for sin. No man took His life.
He said plainly in Scripture, I lay my life down, willingly.
No one takes it from me. I lay it down. God planned the
cross. God presided over the cross.
And thirdly, now get a hold of this, God participated in afflicting
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's right. We know that it
pleased Pilate to condemn Him. The Pharisees were pleased to
see Him die the death of the wicked. The Roman soldiers were
pleased to put another Jew to death. But always remember what
the Scripture said in Isaiah 53, 10. It pleased God to bruise
him in our place. It pleased God to wound him. The work that men did that day,
as I said earlier, wasn't sufficient to put away our sin. It's what
God was doing at the cross. That's our hope. He was smitten
of God and afflicted by the hand of God Almighty. Zechariah records
it, Zechariah said this, a wanko sword, the sword of his justice,
against my shepherd, against the man that is my fellows, saith
the Lord of hosts, smite the shepherd. The sword of his justice,
his white hot justice was plunged into the heart of the Lord Jesus
Christ as he's made sin on Calvary's tree. Here's the third point.
No sorrow like his sorrow, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me. Thirdly, why did God afflict
him? Why does he suffer so? Well,
the answer is in our text there. You see it? Wherewith the Lord
hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. God's fierce anger. Look at verse
13 in our text. From above hath he sent fire
into my bones, and it hath prevailed against them. He hath spread
a net from my feet, he hath turned me back, he hath made me desolate,
and I faint. He's afflicted of God. Now the
cross, now listen to me. The cross of the Lord Jesus is
seen by most as a display only of man's anger. And it is. But few have seen the cross and
Christ crucified as a display of God's fierce anger. About
to get to the heart of the matter. What happened on Calvary's tree
in the day of God's fierce anger. Now, let me ask you this. How
can a holy God be angry with His holy Son? He said, this is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. And yet now we see the wrath
of God poured out upon the Lord Jesus Christ without any mixture
of mercy. How can God be angry with His
Holy Son? I can sum it up in one word.
It has three letters. S-I-N. Sin. Sin. Scripture declares, Psalm
5-5, the foolish shall not stand in thy sight, thou hatest all
the workers of iniquity. Psalm 7-11, God judges the righteous,
God is angry with the wicked every day. God can only be angry
with one thing, that is sin. He is too holy to look upon sin
with favor. The wages of sin is death, the
guilty must die. Habakkuk said, Thou art of pure
eyes, then to behold, iniquity, God in His holy character cannot
look on sin. How do you describe the anger
of God? I remember reading years ago that little book written
by Arthur Pink on the attributes of God, and he said the anger
of God His anger over sin is the result of His holiness stirred
in activity against sin. That's a good definition of the
wrath of God. It's His holiness stirred in
activity directed at sin. That's His anger. The holy God
can never look on sin with favor. Now listen to me. If then, if
then the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of God's wrath, He
must be guilty of sin. Now stay with me. But the Scripture
declares of him, he had no sin. The Scripture declares of the
Lord Jesus Christ, he's a lamb without blemish and without spot.
The Scripture declares of him, he had no sin, he knew no sin,
and he did no sin. Have we missed something here?
Even his enemy said Judas when he came back, remember the betrayer?
Sold the Lord Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He came back and he
cast that money on the floor and he told him, I betrayed innocent
blood. Pilate said, I find no fault
in this man. He said, I've washed my hands
from the blood of this just person. Even the Roman soldier confessed
certainly this was a righteous man. Even his enemy said, this
is a righteous man. Now listen to me. He is indeed
guilty of sin, but none that he personally committed. He's
holy. He's harmless. He's undefiled. He is guilty of sin by the Father
laying on him the sin of God's elect. The theologians say that
he's guilty of sin by imputation. God imputed, reckoned our sin
to Him. The Lord laid on Him our iniquity. Psalm 40 declares, and this is
our Lord speaking, He said, For innumerable evils have encompassed
me about, mine iniquity hath taken hold upon me, so that I
am not able to look up. He calls our sin His. As it's charged to him, he willingly
takes all the sin of God's people to himself. Concentrated in one
person! No wonder the wrath of God falls
on him at Calvary's tree. He said, my iniquities have taken
hold upon me, so I'm not able to look up. They're more than
the hairs of my head. Isaiah 53. Verse 6, All we like
sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord laid on him. Who did this? The Lord laid
on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53.10, Thou shalt make
his soul an offering for sin. Who did that? Men didn't do that. God laid on him our sin. Isaiah
53.11, My righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear
their iniquities. Isaiah 53, 12, He bare the sin
of many and made intercession for transgressors. In a word then, what happened
at the cross? Can you find a word that describes? Can you sum it
up in a word or two? I can find two words. Substitution. Satisfaction. That's what happened
at Calvary Street. Substitution. The Lord Jesus
Christ dying in my room and in my stead. God made Him sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. God made Him sin for us, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That substitution,
the just one dying for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God. That substitution. And my friend,
that substitution is complete satisfaction unto God. He shall
see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Our Lord's
last words in the body before he died, it is finished. Complete. Done. Sin put away. When sin was found on the Lord
Jesus Christ, when God made Him sin for us, the holy wrath of
God just fell on Him and completely spent itself on Him. Therefore, in Christ Jesus, there
is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. He took
my punishment. He took my sin. He took my punishment,
and the wrath of God fell on him, therefore there is no wrath
towards me." You see, he paid my debt. He satisfied God on
my behalf. No condemnation to those who
are in Christ. In Lamentation 4, verse 22, it
says, "...the punishment of thy iniquity is accomplished." Hebrews
chapter 10, For by one offering hath he perfected forever them
that are sanctified. And the Lord said, Their sin
and their iniquity will I remember no more. Gone. Gone. In closing, here's point number
four. What is your estimation of Jesus
Christ crucified? Now let's, like the old country
boy said, let's shuck right down to the cob. That's shucked right
down to the cup. What is your estimation of Jesus
Christ crucified? Is it nothing to you? That's
the question he asked. Is it nothing to you, all ye
that pass by? You're passing by right now.
And in this message I pray that you can behold Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Is it nothing to you, all ye
that pass by? I know this. I know this to be
true, God leaving us to our own wicked thoughts, our own carnal
understanding, our reply would be, it's nothing, it's nothing
to me. We read in scripture, for the
preaching of the cross to them that perish, foolishness, but
unto them which are saved, it's the power 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. Now listen to
me. To approach God upon any other
ground than Christ crucified is absolute folly. Not only is that true, but it's
also to charge God with folly in the death of His Son. If righteousness
comes by something you do, if righteousness comes by the law,
then why did Christ die? He had to die to put away our
sin. No other way. Indifference 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, we studied it this morning in our Bible study, if any man
loves not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed when the
Lord comes back. To some, Christ crucified is
just nothing. To some, Christ crucified is
something, but not everything. But some, by God's grace, the
Lord Jesus Christ crucified is everything. In Him dwells all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ we are complete
in Him. The believer can say with the
Apostle Paul, God forbid I should glory, rejoice, except in Christ,
in Him crucified. You see, Christ is all. and in
all. Now may God help us to be determined
as the Apostle Paul not to know anything but Christ crucified
and be determined to rest in Him, His blood for my sin, satisfying
God's justice, His gospel, all my hope. To know nothing but
Jesus Christ as all of our salvation, Christ crucified, nothing more
Nothing else, nothing less, and nothing else but Christ and Him
crucified. Now, you got the text there again? Lamentation 112. Commit it to
memory. Commit it to memory. Is it nothing
to you, all ye that pass by? Behold and see if there be any
sorrow, like unto my sorrow which was done unto me wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me. in the day of his fierce anger. And I pray, I pray for you, for
me, that God would make that all of our hope of salvation
before God. God is well pleased with Christ. God is satisfied. God is satisfied
with the death of the Lord Jesus, sufficient payment to put away
our sin.