Mourning at the Cross
“And I WILL POUB UPON THE HOUSE OP DAVID, AND UPOM THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM, THE SPIRIT OF GBACB AND OF SUPPLICATIONS: AND THEY SHALL LOOK UPON MX WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED, AND THEY SHALL MOURN FOB HIM, AS ONE MOURNETH FOR HIS ONLY SON, AND SHALL BE IN BITTERNESS FOR HIM, AS ONE THAT IS IN BITTEB-NESS FOR HIS FIRSTBORN.” — Zecharioh xii. 10.
NOTE the remarkable change of persons: “look upon me,” and “mourn for him.” Such changes indicate unity and distinctness; and afford us a hint as to the Unity of the Godhead, and the Trinity of the Persons.
He who speaks is Jehovah, “which stretcheth forth the heavens,” (see verse 1,) and yet he says “me, whom they have pierced.”
It is Jehovah-Jesus who is pierced, and pours out the Spirit of grace.
It is a marvel that Jesus should be crucified when the Jewish law required stoning; and that, when crucified, the Roman soldier, though ignorant of the prophecy, should pierce him with his spear.
The conversion of the Jews is here promised: they will be converted to a crucified Christ.
They, by their unbelief and hatred, were guilty of his death: let us pray that they may be saved by it right speedily. 2 — 23
Our text reveals their way of repentance, and thia must also be ours.
Evangelical sorrow for sin is to be our subject at this time.
We shall remark that, —
‘L IT IS CHEATED BT THE HOLY SPIRIT. “1 will
pour upon the house of David, ma upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications.”
1. It is not produced by mere conscience, nor by
terror, nor by the use of a form of penitence; much less by music, pictures, &c.
2. It comes as a gift of grace: “I will pour.”
The understanding is enlightened, the heart renewed, &c., by a distinct act of the Spirit of God, sent forth by the Father.
8. It is attended by prayer: “grace and of supplications.” In this differing from remorse, which never prays.
4. It is continuous, for it comes with abiding things, such as the xountain opened (see next chapter); and it flows from an abiding source, for the Spirit of grace and of supplications abides in the saints.
II. IT is CAUSED BY LOOKING TO JESUS. ‘* They shall look upon me, whom they have pierced.”
It cannot, therefore, prepare for that look: we look to Jesui as we are, and the look makes penitents of ua.
1. We see the horrible hatred which sin bears
toward purity, for it slew the Holy One,
and that when he was arrayed in the most
lovely and attractive form.
2. We see its ingratitude to love. Sin repays
infinite compassion with inveterate hate, and therefore crucifies Jesus. 8. We see its abhorrence of God. It would slay him if it could, and it did so in effect. Sin is Deicidal in intent and tendency.
4. We see that such is the terrible guilt of our sin
that nothing but an infinite sacrifice could atone for it.
5. We see that we have entered into the sin of
Calvary by our conduct towards the Lord
Jesus in our rejecting and resisting him and
his cause. We have repeated the crime of
the cross.
III. IT is THE CHIEF OF SORROWS. “They shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son.”
1. Comparable to a terrible parental agony, for an
only son, or for a first-born child: both very special sources of grief.
2. Comparable also to the national mourning for
Josiah. See verse 11. Never nation sustained greater loss than Judah when it lost Josiah, and the people showed it by the national lamentation. Such is a penitent’i sorrow at the death of Jesus.
B66 MY SERMON Nl TES.
3. It is personal and private. See verses 12 to 14.
4. It is spreading and social.” The land shall
mourn:” verse 12.
IV. IT IS NOT IN ITSELF THE CLEANSING FOR SIN.
By it we confess the crime, but cannot thereby remove it. Conviction is a glass to show our spots, not a bath to cleanse them.
1. It acknowledges our need of the fountain; but
it is not itself a fountain of cleansing.
2. It goes with the saving look to Jesus, but it is
no rival to it.
3. It leads away from self, and even from its
own self.
4. It leads to Jesus: we mourn for Kim; and this
linking us with Jesus is most operative
upon our hearts.
Come, bleeding heart, and look to Jesus for healing I
Come, hard heart, and look to Jesus for brokenness!
Come, careless heart, for the sight of Jesus may arrest even thee!
[For variety we add a second outline on the same text.’]
CXXVI. “THEY SHALL BE IN BITTERNESS FOR HIM.” — Zechariah xii. J y.
“T 7HEN the Jews receive Jesus as Messiah, they * * shall look upon him as pierced and slain: and the first result will be bitter repentance. It is the same with us. Of all sights, a sight of Jesus crucified is the sweetest; but at the same time it causes bitterness.
I. OUR FIRST SIGHT OF CHRIST BRINGS BITTERNESS.
1. For not having known his preciousness before.
What a loss!
2. For having slighted such love so long. What
crime upon crime I
8. From fear lest he should not be ours after all. This causes a bitter pang, an anxious grief of soul.
4. Sin, its greatness, and its effects, are seen in his
cruel death; and this makes us deplore our guilt, and his woes.
5. The wrath of God, its justice and terribleness,
are also seen at the cross, and we tremble.
6. Dread of never being forgiven, and a sense that
we can never forgive ourselves, are mingled in one bitter draught.
II. OUR CONTINUED SIGHT OF CHRIST WORKS IN U8
THROUGHOUT LIFE A MEASURE OF THE
SAME BITTERNESS.
1. His great love, when better known, brings
deeper grief for sin.
2. It inspires a direr dread of grieving him.
3. It creates a deeper regret for our present unworthiness.
4. It inspires a greater horror at man’s rejection
of him, while we see thousands around us
perishing by that madness.
6. It promotes a more overwhelming sympathy with Jesus in his striving against the evil which he died to destroy.
III. THIS BITTERNESS HAS MOST GRACIOUS EFFECTS.
1. It works great hatred of sin, and a tender and careful avoiding of it.
2. It makes Christ very sweet.
3. It makes worldly joys and temptations tasteless.
4. It removes the bitterness of affliction, pain,
and death. 6. It prevents the sinful bitterness of anger, etc.,
at persecution. 6. It has an unutterable sweetness in it. We come
to relish repentance, and to feel a pleasure
in lowly grief for Jesus.
NAILS.
It is a sweet saying of one of old, “Let a man grieye for his sin, and then joy for his grief.”
I see the crowd in Pilate’s hall, I mark their wrathful mien;
Their shouts of “Crucify!” appal, with blasphemy between, And of that shouting multitude I feel that I am one;
And in that din of voices rude, I recognize my own.
I see the scourges tear his back, I see the piercing crown, And of that crowd who smite and mock I feel that I am one;
Around yon cross, the throng I see, mocking the Sufferer’s groan, Yet still my voice it seems to be, — as if I mocked alone.
‘Twas I that shed the sacred blood, I nailed him to the tree, I crucified the Christ of God, I joined the mockery;
Yet not the less that blood avails to cleanse away my sin, And not the less that cross prevails to give me peace within.
We must nail our sins to the cross of Christ, fasten them upon the tree on which he suffered. Sin will begin to die within a man upon the sight of Christ on the cross, for the cross of Christ accuses sin, shames sin, and by a secret virtue destroys the very heart of sin. We must use sin as Christ was used when he was made sin for us; we must lift it up, and make it naked by confession of it to God; we must fasten the hands and feet of it by repentance, and pierce the heart of it by godly sorrow. — Byfield.
I am no preacher, let this hint suffice —
The 3ross once seen is death to every vice;
Else he that hung there suffered all his pain,
Bled, groan’d, and agonized, and died, in vain. — Cowpet.
Newton’s hymn, “In evil long I took delight,” describes the experience of one who was brought to repentance and salvation by the sight of Christ crucified.
&6G MT 8SRMON NOTK8.
Now, to make and keep the heart soft and tender, the consideration of Christ’s dolorous passion must needs be of singular use and efficacy; as the sight of Caesar’s bloody robes greatly affected the people cf Rome, and edged them on to revenge his death. — Trapp.