You read verse 9 and 10 again,
Zechariah 12, 9, and it shall come to pass in that day that
I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house
of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace. and supplications, and they shall
look upon me, whom they crucified, that pierced my hands and my
feet. And they shall mourn for him
as one mourned for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for
him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." And verse
1 of chapter 13, and in that day there shall be a fountain
open to the house of David to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
for sin and for uncleanness. And I have great admiration for
Charles Patton Spurgeon, who pastored 38 years in London,
England, was the most influential godly leader and preacher not
only of his generation, but of that century, and for that matter,
for many centuries. And concerning this scripture,
this is what he said. In this scripture, first of all,
there's a prophecy concerning the Jewish people. And I'm happy, he says, that
it confirms my heart in the belief of the mercy and good which God
will yet do for national Israel. I know, he said, because the
Lord has said it, that the Jews shall one day return to their
own land. and inherit the country which
the Lord gave their fathers in a covenant." Now this, Spurgeon
spoke this in 1860, a hundred years before the Jews went back
to Israel in 1948 when Harry Truman recognized them as a nation,
1948. Miraculously, those people came
from all over this world back to that country. will recognize
it as a nation. That's what Spurgeon's saying,
they're coming back to their land, back to Israel. But he went on, Spurgeon went
on and said, but better still, I believe that one day many of
those people will be converted to the faith of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I believe they'll see in
him the Messiah, for whom Abraham and the fathers looked, and of
whom their fathers spake. But who came unto his own, and
his own received him not? Who came and was despised and
rejected by his own? Oh, happy day! Not only when
not only the Gentiles, but many Jews will be found worshiping
our Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, our great High Priest." And Spurgeon
said, this is what Zechariah is talking about in this text
that day. And does not Paul, I want you
to turn away from the text for a moment, hold your hand there
and turn to Romans 11. And I've studied all the different
thoughts about the last days. I've studied the premillennialists
and the amillennialists and the postmillennialists and the writers
and various ideas about those days and about Israel and about
the Jews. But let's see what Paul says
in Romans 11, verse 1. I'll say then, that God cast
away his people. Who's he talking about? Abraham's
natural seed, that's who he's talking about. God forbid, he
said, I'm an Israelite. I'm a child of God, I'm a believer,
and I'm a Jew. And I'm of the seed of Abraham,
I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. This is not when he's saying,
that I could boast in these things. He's just stating the fact that
God hadn't cast away the Jews. He said, I'm a Jew. I've been
converted. Peter, James, and John were Jews.
Now look at verse 11. I say then, have they stumbled
that they should fall? God forbid. But rather through
their fall, salvations come to the Gentiles, but to provoke
them to jealousy. Now, if the fall of them be the
riches of the Gentiles, the world in general, and the diminishing
of them be the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their
fullness? For I speak to you Gentiles,
and as much as I am an apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my
office, if by any means I might provoke to emulation them which
are of my flesh, my Jewish brethren, and might save some of them.
Or if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world,
what shall be, what shall the receiving of them be? Is there
going to be a receiving of them? Is there going to be a belief?
Is there going to be a revival among Israel? Wouldn't that be
great? What shall be with the receiving
of them? Now verse 22. Behold, therefore, the goodness
and severity of God. We need to always think about
these two things, God's goodness and God's severity. God's providence
in grace and judgment. On them which fail, severity. But towards you, goodness. If
you continue in His goodness, otherwise you also shall be cut
off, you Gentiles. And they also, the Jews, if they
abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in." God's able
to graft them in again. Do you believe that? I do. I
do. God is able to graft them in
again. For if I were cut out of the
olive tree, which is wild by nature, you're an alien, you're
a stranger from the commonwealth of Israel, I am too. And you
were grafted, contrary to nature, into the good tree. How much
more shall these, which be the natural branches, the natural
sons of Abraham, be grafted into their own honored tree? I would
not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery,
lest you be wise in your own conceits. Don't be too high and
mighty lifted up. Blindness, in part, has happened
to Israel. until the fullness of the Gentiles
be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved,
as it is written, there shall come out of Zion to deliver and
turn away ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant with them,
when I shall take away their sins, as concerning the gospel,
their enemies for your sake. But as touching the election,
they are beloved for the Father's sake, for the gifts and calling
of God are without change. Will God visit Israel again in
grace? Surely would be wonderful. Will
those unbelieving Jews someday look to Christ Jesus and believe
on him? Surely would be wonderful. Will
they in faith come to that fountain filled with blood drawn from
Emmanuel's blood? Well, lest anyone here be thinking
about a different gospel or a different dispensation or a different approach,
let me ask you to turn to one scripture, Acts 15. One scripture, two verses that
will clear up this whole thing. If the Jews, Muslims, Arabs,
whomever, natural seed, sons of Abraham, ever come to salvation,
they will be saved the same way you are. That's what Paul said. Now listen, listen to this. There's
not going to be any special, different message. It will be
the gospel, if they do it. Now listen to Acts 15. And Paul
is The apostle is speaking here about Gentiles and the Jews. He's a Jew. And he's telling
these Jewish brethren, now therefore why tempt ye God to put a yoke
upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor
we were able to bear? He's a Jew and he's saying this
to those Jewish leaders. Bring circumcision back. Don't
bring the law back. Don't bring the Sabbath and the
tithe and all these things and put a yoke on these people. The
sacrifices and ceremonies. In order to be saved, they don't
have to become Jews. They have to come to Christ.
So don't put this yoke on them. Don't bring the law back and
the bondage of the law. But, oh how important this verse
is, we believe That through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we Jews will be saved even as they Gentiles, those Gentiles. See what he's saying? He's saying,
if a Jew is saved, I'm a Jew, he said, you're a Jew. If we
are saved, if we come to know God, we'll be saved just like
the Gentiles. You see, now that clears up anything
about future. Jewish revivals or refreshing
or salvation, is the apostle himself, says here, the Jew apostle,
child of God, son of Abraham, says, I'm saved like the Gentiles. He doesn't say the Gentiles are
saved like we are. He said we're saved like they are. So if God
is pleased to open the heart of the Jew, it will be the same
way he opened your heart and brought you to love Christ. And
it won't be as a Jewish Messiah that he's believed and received.
It'll be as the Redeemer of sinners. Anybody that comes to Christ...
Let me show you some verses here in Galatians 3. Turn over here
a minute. Anybody that comes to Christ,
he doesn't come as a Jew or a Gentile, a male or a female. He comes
as a sinner. That's right. Turn to Galatians
3. Let me show you something. Galatians 3, verse 26. Galatians
3, verse 26. For you are all children of God
by faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3 verse 27, For as
many of you as have been baptized into Christ by the Spirit of
God have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female.
You are one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, then you
are Jews, you're Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Look back at verse 10, Galatians 3. For as many as are of the
works of the law are under the curse. Oh no, Colossians. Turn to Colossians. That's the
one I want you to look. Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter
3. That's what I want to read. Colossians
3, verse 10. And we have put on the new man
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. Colossians 3, 11. Whether it's neither Greek nor
Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or
free, but Christ is all. You see that? Well, let's go
back to my text now. I want to apply this text. not
to the national Israel, but to spiritual Israel. I intend to
use this text as it is written to all of God's people, all believers, on this vital subject. This is
the experience of everyone. When he says here, some day I'll
pour out upon the house of David the spirit of grace and supplication,
and they'll look to me. whom they have pierced, and they
mourn, grieve, repent, as a person mourns over a fallen son, a firstborn. That's the experience of everybody
whom God saves, everybody. Let me show you that. First of
all, verse 10, look at the first statement. I will pour out, I
will pour upon the house of David, upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
a spirit of grace. A spirit of grace and supplication. The word supplication means entreaty. It means a sincere cry, a sincere
prayer. I'll pour out upon the house
of David the spirit of grace. Now, a while ago I asked the
question, will the Jews ever seek Christ? They will if God
pours out upon them the spirit of grace and supplication. Will the Jews ever call on the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, really, genuinely say, He's our
Redeemer, He's our Messiah, we trust Him, we look to Him, we
believe on Him, we call upon Him to be our mediator with God? Will they ever? They will if
God pours out upon them the Spirit of grace and supplication. They
will. And so will you and I. Because
this is true and this is the experience of any sinner who
acknowledges his sins and seeks the mercy of God in Christ. There's
always the spirit of grace that precedes grace. Always. God breaks up the pile of grass
before the seed is sown. When the sower went forth to
sow, and some fell on fallow ground and stony ground, and
ground grown with weeds and briars, and it yielded no fruit, but
some fell on good ground. And God goes before the sowing
of the seed and prepares the sower to receive it. God says,
I'll come and pour out upon them the spirit of grace and earnestness
and supplication, and they will look. I pour out upon them grace."
God always regenerates the empty womb. A child is born from a mother,
but there's a time when that womb was empty, lifeless, and
a seed was planted. And even so, of his own will,
begat he us with the word of truth. The poor person hears,
he's got to have ears. Before he sees, he's got to have
eyes. Before he believes, he's got to have a light. And God
comes and gives light. God awakens the dead. Dead men
don't hear. You have to be quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. God comes and quickens. You sitting
here this morning and this preacher standing here, there was a time
when I had no interest in the gospel. I had an interest in
religion, but not in the gospel. And there came a day when I became
interested, and I began to listen. And I had an earnestness and
a supplication, a seeking of God. And that was because he
was first. God disturbs the contented. When true salvation comes to
any person, God first moves upon that person with a spirit of
grace, a spirit of supplication. Men move toward God with seeking
hearts when God moves towards them. Men call upon God for salvation
when God calls upon them. That's right. The hymn writer
put it this way. It is not that I did choose thee,
for Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, but thou hast chosen me. T'was sovereign mercy that called
me and taught my opening mind. This world had so enthralled
me to heavenly glories I was so blind. T'was the same love
that spread the feast that sweetly called me in. or why I would
have refused to taste and perished in my sins. Oh, my heart owns
not above thee, for thy rich grace I thirst. But this I know,
if I seek thee, thou must have sought me first. If I love thee,
thou must have loved me first. If I call upon thee, thou must
have called me first. And right now, Israel is dead,
blind, in darkness. They have Bibles, but they don't
believe that their table is a snare and their sacrifices are a stumbling
block. Will they ever call on Christ
or seek Christ or open their ears to hear the gospel? If God
visits them first. That's what I will pour out upon
the house of David upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace,
and they shall look. They shall look upon me, whom
they pierced, and mourn as for an only son." How are you going
to see without eyes? And this is what those who really
know God and know the gospel are constantly aware of But the natural man received
it, not the things of God. Now, he can be intelligent and
smart and sharp in the things of this world, the things of
the flesh. But the things of the Spirit, there has to be an
awakening, a quickening, a regenerating of the Spirit of God. I will
pour out the Spirit. And they shall look upon me,
whom they have pierced." You know, now listen to me here a
moment. The Bible uses this word, look, quite a bit. Looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He said in Isaiah
45, look unto me, look unto me and be ye saved. He said in John, he that seeth
the Son and believeth on him. And Israel shall look upon me,
whom they have pierced." Now, this is puzzling to a lot of
people. And they hear this, look to Jesus, look unto me, seeing
the Son. So they go and buy pictures of
Jesus and put all over their house so they can look to Jesus.
Or they build statues. The Catholics are famous for
this. In all these Catholic places
where I've been, they've got statues of Jesus, statues of
the Virgin, statues of Peter, statues everywhere, and people
come and kneel before those statues and look up to them, look at
them, and burn candles all around the feet of their statue of Jesus,
and there's candles all around. I've been to some of the Notre
Dame in Paris, a lot of these big cathedrals, and it's It's
interesting to see these statues, images of saints and the candles,
and they wear the toe off. People kiss the toe to actually
wear the stone through all these centuries. They kneel before
these... See, this is looking. They go
to altars and kneel before crosses. Look to the cross, somebody said.
So some gentlemen put three crosses all over the hillsides in Virginia
and Kentucky and people ride and they look and they get a
warm feeling looking at the cross. People take trips to the Holy
Land. I see pictures of them standing before graves and standing
on hillsides and standing at different monuments and they're
kneeling at these places, standing at the wailing wall and at least
not touching it. Now listen to me, listen well. Looking to Christ has nothing
to do with these eyes. A blind man can look to Christ. Nothing. Coming to Christ has
nothing to do with these feet. It's not coming to Jerusalem
or coming to the front or coming to a preacher or coming to an
altar. Don't come down here. Salvation is not down here. It's
in Him. You come to Christ. Come to Me,
He said, I'll give you rest. Coming to Christ has got nothing
to do with these people. If you want inspiration, don't
go to Jerusalem. Don't go to the Holy Land. Go
to the Word of God. Go to Christ. Serving Christ
and laying hold of Christ has nothing to do with these hands.
To look to Christ and consider Christ has to do with the heart,
with the heart, with the mind. Looking unto Jesus. Turn to Hebrews 3 verse 1. Hebrews
3 verse 1. You know, if I were to say to
you, let's consider World War II. That mean we've got to get
the guns out again? Let's consider slavery and the
emancipation and the term of Lincoln. Let's consider that.
Let's look at that for a little while this morning. I've got
to go to Gettysburg? No. You look at it in here, in
your heart. You consider it in your heart,
in your mind. You consider it with the information
that you've got. Look at Hebrews 3. Verse 1, "...Wherefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the
apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." Let's
consider Christ Jesus. "...who was faithful to him that
appointed him as Moses, was faithful in all his house. But this man
counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who
built the house has more honor than the house." Consider Christ.
Would you consider it as our covenant surety before the world
began? Well, in your heart. Would you
consider Christ Jesus as the incarnate God who was born of
the virgin and came into this world? Would you consider Christ
Jesus the perfect man, the second Adam, our representative who
walked this earth, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, obeyed
the law at our behest? Would you consider him? Think
on him. Look to him. Would you consider the crucified
substitute who took our sins in his body on the tree? Now,
don't erect a cross. And don't put a man up on a cross
up here so you can look at it. That's idolatry. Look to him
in the heart, the mind. Let your mind go back to that
time when he as a man went to the Calvary's hill and bore our
sins and died under the awful wrath of God for our sins. Consider
him buried and risen as our justifier and seated at the right hand
of God as our Mediatron. I can't even visualize the throne
or the throne room or within the veil or the right hand. I
just know that somehow, some way, my forerunner has entered
within the veil. and possess the land on our behalf,
yours and mine. He's there. Consider him. Adhere. Well, I'll take a walk. You can't
go to Christ that way. Well, I'll go to work. He doesn't
need your work. Well, I'll go and look at a cross
or statue until it warms my heart. Watch out, you're going to get
another spirit. Another spirit. You'll get a spirit. And you'll
get a warm feeling. But it won't be Christ. You see,
the word look. Listen to this. Looking is simple. You don't need a college degree
to look. You may not be able to read, but you can look. You
may be young or old, but you can look. You may be blind, but
you can look to Christ. It's very simple. Think on Him. Consider Him. Looking requires
no merit. Somebody said a cat can look
at a king. Can't stop it. There goes the king. There's old Tomcat sitting on
the fence out there looking right at him. You may be destitute of virtue,
you may be a thief or a harlot, but there's nobody that can stop
you from looking. They can stop you from grabbing hold, but they
can't stop you from looking. You can look to Him. Looking requires personal attention.
I look. You can't look for me. You can
pray for me, but you can't look. You can scold me. You can weep
for me. You can teach me. You can urge
me to live. I've got to live. Is that right? I've got to live. Oh, if I could, and I know you
could, You'd just reach out and take them to glory, wouldn't
you? You'd just reach out and take them right to Christ. You'd
just tear down all the walls and the rebellion and the lack
of interest and you'd say, look at him, look! No, I ain't gonna
look. You can't make me. But if I ever
need him, I'll look. Those people bitten by the fire
serpents, they look. when you need Christ. And he says this, they'll look
upon me whom they pierced, not the Father, not the Holy Spirit, not the
church, not Mary, not the saints, There's only one who was perished. And that's Christ. That's what
it says. Turn to Psalm 22. Psalm 22, look
at this. Mark it in your Bible. And look
upon me whom they perished. Psalm 22, verse 16. This is the
Psalm of the Cross. Psalm 22, 16. For dogs have compassed
me, The assembly of the wicked enclosed me, they pierced my
hands and my feet, they drove nails in my hands and feet, and
they pierced my side, and out of it came blood and water."
So, who is this to whom we look? It's not the babe in the manger, it's not the son of the virgin,
it's not the example It's not the carpenter, it's not the healer
walking the streets, it's not even the king. It's the crucified
Christ. Salvation is in his death, in
his blood. This church is going to continue
to reach back Reach back to the Lamb slain for the foundation
of the world, the everlasting gospel. Reach back to all of
the Old Testament type without the shedding of blood, there's
no remission. Reach back to the cross where Christ died for our
sins. It's not by an example He redeemed
us, it's by His death, He saved us. Death. By His blood. We're not ashamed of the blood
of Christ Jesus. They look upon me, upon me whom
they have pierced. No shortcut now, you talk about
the Jew or the Gentile, you say that, it's like a man said, what
about the people in other religions and all, aren't they going to
heaven? If they look to Christ, they will. But this man's a preacher, and
he doesn't preach the gospel of the cross and the blood. He
preaches good works, and he's a fine man. He's a generous man,
and he's a clean man of integrity and honesty, and he believes
in God. They'll look upon me whom they
have pierced. Christ crucified. Understand? Now watch this. And they'll mourn. Here's your repentance. A sight of Christ begot the repentance. They shall mourn over sin as
one mourns over the death of a son, a firstborn. Can you imagine
how grievous that is? I've experienced this, some of
you have. This morning, when they see Christ
bearing, it's like in the book, I've got a little poem, my sins,
my sins, my Savior, how sad on thee they fall. When I see them
in thy death, I tenfold own them all. My sins, my sins, my Savior,
their guilt I never knew. Till I saw at the cross the Lord
of glory they slew." My sins nailed Him to the cross. When
Israel realizes that their sins nailed Him to the cross, they'll
mourn. They'll mourn. I read a story
years ago about Spurgeon, I think, told it. There was a young man,
an only son, old couple, this couple had an only son, pride
and joy. And that only son left home and lived a life of crime and
shame and went to prison. When he left home, he never contacted
his parents ever again. They never heard from him another
time. He was gone. They knew not where. But he lived
a life of crime and shame and spent time in prison. Parents
never heard from him. After many, many years, he got
out of prison and something led him to go back
to the little farmhouse. And when he came back to the
little farmhouse, there was a light in the window and he walked up
the familiar walk to the porch. He stepped up on the porch and
he knocked at the door. And the door opened and a stranger
stood in the light. What name did you say? What name
was that? Oh, yes, yes, I remember that
name. Those folks, they did live here,
both of them, an old couple. They died years ago. Years ago,
there are graves right down the road here in an old churchyard
if you want to go see the graves. Yes, they're dead. Both the people
tell me that they had one son who left home and they never
ever heard from him again. And both the old man and the
old woman just sickened and died, just grieved themselves to death.
What do you know about that? What do you know about that?
And the young man turned and walked weeping across the porch
and down the steps saying these words, I killed my parents with
my sins and neglect. And I'll tell you, when we are
awakened by the Spirit of God to what we were and what we did,
And we're given a sight of Calvary's cross, where our beloved Redeemer
bore my sins and my sorrows and my iniquities and my transgressions.
We'll mourn. That's right. It's difficult
to say, and I know people argue, which comes first, faith or repentance? I don't know, but I'm thinking
that More repentance is produced by faith than faith by repentance. I believe God's people do more
repenting after they come to Christ than before. I really
do. I really do. I think the more
I see of Him, the more I see of myself. His love, His holiness,
and His grace. It's the goodness of God that
leads a man to repentance. Preacher, y'all preach on hell.
Hell never brought anybody to Christ. Hell never delivered
anybody from hell. You ought to hit the law. You
ought to hit people with the law. Tell them what they ought to
do. They know what they ought to do. They ain't dumb. Good
night. I tell you how people come to
Christ by seeing Christ in His love and grace and mercy. It's
the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. True repentance and mourning
over sin has a distinct, constant reference to Christ. Now, you
can put that down. To look upon Christ, our substitute
is a sight which produces faith, which produces repentance, which
produces worship, and which produces salvation. It does, to see Him. See Him. That's why Paul said,
I preach Christ, and Him crucify. He's the Redeemer. Verse 1 of chapter 13, let's
look at this and I'll close. In that day when God pours out
the Spirit of grace and supplication and God breaks the high, in that
day there'll be a fountain opened, the house of David to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem. Not for everybody, it'd be the
house of David. It'd be the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the new Jerusalem, Jerusalem which is above, true believers,
for sin and uncleanness. You reckon, Mike, that William
Cowper had that verse in mind when he wrote, there's a fountain
filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners
plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty state. Young
people, listen to me. You've come into a world that's It's a wicked world. It's a wicked,
wicked world. You're going to have temptations
and trials and difficulties. The forces of evil, principalities
and powers, rulers of darkness are powerful, powerful. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood. Powerful. take you down that
broad road of evil and wickedness. You not only come into a world,
a wicked world, but you come into a religious world. And there are voices, and all
the voices of evil and temptation for drugs and alcohol and all
kind of things about you, rebellion, and do your thing and your rights. But they're religious voices
that call to you and say that you've got the power to offset
these things, and you've got the power to do this, and you've
got the power to do that, and it all depends on you to do this.
I want to lift up this voice in the midst of all those voices
of wickedness and religion and point you to Him who has the
power, who is the answer, Christ, Christ the Lord. His Word, His
grace, His cross, His blood, His redemption, it's in Him.
You look to Him. Don't follow the fanciful religions
of ceremony and self-righteousness and all these things. Believe
the Word. It's right here. The gospel of
God's grace. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. He didn't pray that he'd take
you out of this world. You're not going to become a
hermit. You're going to live with people and marry and have
your children and work in your job and have friends and go to
school and play sports and do all these things. But you can
look to Christ in these things. Walk with Him in His love and
grace and mercy and it's the happiest life here and the hope
for life to come. Resting in Him, be different. But the majority, Brother Henry
don't believe those things, never have. He said, few there be that
find it. It's a little flock. Majority
of people weren't in the ark, they were outside. They weren't
in Christ. Majority of people didn't leave
Sodom, they stayed in. Majority of people at the cross
said crucify. One man said, Lord, remember
me. If you're looking for a majority
that rules you, you're not looking here. You're not looking here. But I can tell you, this is the
way. This is the way of peace and
joy and contentment. You don't have to start a crusade
and argue with people and debate. No use. If God pours out spirit
of grace and supplication, they'll look to Him.