If you would, turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19, and this morning we're going to consider just verses 41 through 44. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. Luke chapter 19, verses 41 through 44. hear the word of our Lord." And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. For the day will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father God, we thank you that you've given us many, many chances to hear your gospel and you have opened up these opportunities and you've brought people into our life and arranged the circumstances of our life, even down to where we were born and when, so that each of us who are here have had the opportunity and will have the opportunity to hear the truth of your word. We haven't deserved this. God, you would be right and it would be understandable for you to write us off entirely. We've broken your law. We have dishonored you as our creator. And rather than give thanks to you, we have chosen to love the things that you've made and your gifts to us rather than to love you, the one who has made us and given us all things, life and breath and everything. And all good gifts come from above. And yet, God, we have spurned your love. We've been ungrateful, and it would be right of you to write us off and to judge us, and yet you have shown compassion towards us, and you have pitied us, God, and you have preached the gospel to us, and we thank you. We pray that there would not be one among us who hears the gospel and yet neglects to respond in faith. who puts off a decision for Christ, who thinks that now is not the time that there will be another. God, we pray that you would, through the example of Christ, through his life and through his words that we have here before us, that we might be, God, moved internally, that we might feel ourselves willing. We might find these words compelling. We might find our knees weak and ready to bend and bow in submission to Christ, call out to him for mercy and to call him Lord and Savior. Do this in us we pray. We pray that you would illumine this text to us, that we might understand the things that are revealed here, that you might help us to grow and that you would produce fruit for eternal life. And we pray all of this in Christ's name. Amen. It is, I think, it's instructive to consider the things that we as a people will mourn or lament. The things that we rejoice over and the things that make us happy and that make us enthusiastic and the things that cause us to weep or sort of cause us to be more sober-minded and sorrowful. And this changes from people to people, from culture to culture. And there are things that we mourn and that we lament that we ought not mourn. That we have too much love in our hearts for things that displease the Lord. We have, even for good things, which there's no sin in loving this thing, not just, there's not an absolute prohibition against loving something, but the way that we have such an inordinate love for things that are good, even good gifts that God has given can reveal a heart that is sort of unbalanced. There are things that we rejoice in, that we love, of course, that we ought not to love, things that we get excited about, and that we give our time and our attention to, that we really ought to put in. Either we need to have no love in our heart for those things that they displease the Lord and go contrary to His word, or there are good things that we need to moderate our affections for. But if you think about your own heart and you reflect upon the things that you love, the things that you rejoice in, the things that you despise or that make you sorrowful, it's worth reflecting on, are my priorities, the things that bring me to these emotional states that produce these big emotions in my own heart and life, are they compatible with the Word of God and with our Christian faith? Well, certainly here we see big emotions in our Savior. We see a heart that is deeply moved. We see the things that move the heart of the Savior. And in verse 41, we see that when Jesus drew near and saw the city, he wept over it. The word that is translated wept in our English translations of the Bible is a word that communicates, you know, when we think about There's a broader range of expression. We can think about someone just getting teary-eyed. We can think of someone sobbing, what we call ugly crying. This is ugly crying. This is a word that communicates a full-on sob. Jesus isn't a little moved. He is greatly moved by what he sees when he draws near. And He has before Him, on this Sunday morning, as He enters the city, on this Palm Sunday, in the context of this triumphant entry into Jerusalem, His followers, His disciples, they rejoice. They're singing Hosanna in the highest, of course, because they want God to save them. Now, many of them have A misunderstanding about what kind of salvation they need and what kind of salvation Christ has come to bring. They're looking for salvation from their temporal earthly problems. They don't understand that what they need is salvation from their spiritual and eternal problems. The salvation of their soul more so than the salvation of their body. But as Christ draws near, what He sees is not the joy of those who accept and receive Him and getting carried away and caught up in this. What He sees before Him is a city that by and large has rejected Him and will reject Him. And as He draws near, He weeps when He sees this city and all of its sin as it has rejected the Savior that has been sent for it. There's several things here that we need to think about carefully and understand, but also several applications for us. One of them, as we go through this text this morning, is to think of this from the perspective of the city itself. The earthly city of Jerusalem, filled as it is with those who reject the Savior. And so there are many people who, in our world today, there's a parallel to our context, to our circumstances, there are many people in our world, in the city of man, who reject the Savior. These are people without faith in Christ, who have not cried out to Him for mercy and trusted themselves to Him fully for salvation. And as sinners, they need to understand, how does the Lord view me? What is His attitude towards me? What is His response towards me? And what do I need to think about when I think about my state? So for some who are in their sins, there's one application here and that is how Christ responds and how He speaks to the situation. But then there are those of us who have received Christ's mercy. And we need to see in this an example. Christ, He weeps over Jerusalem, and this is instructive for us. The way that He thinks about, the way that He feels, the way that He speaks to the situation, the way that He thinks about this, it is instructive for us and is an example as we go about our business in the city of man, as we go about our business in this present and fallen world, in and amongst sinners who reject our Savior. How do we deal with people in the world? can learn quite a bit from the Lord. The first thing that I want you to consider with me this morning are the deep sympathies towards sinners that we see in the example of our Lord Jesus. Deep sympathies. And first of all, there's just this general pity of the Lord. Sometimes Christian theologians will talk about two kinds of love that God has towards mankind. And first of all, there's just a general pity that God has and a general compassion, a general sympathy towards all mankind. And then there's, of course, also a special love and deep affection that God has for his people, for believers, that is beyond even that. God loves us who are in Christ with a special kind of love. But we're speaking here of this general pity of the Lord. He draws near and sees a city full of those who reject him, and yet he weeps with this deep, sobbing emotion. This is no teary-eyed sympathy, but a full-on sobbing. Jesus weeps over this city. And he speaks in verse 42 in this sort of hypothetical, would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace. You know, he is as if Jesus is saying in his humanity, I wish that you would. It's my heart's desire that you would turn, that you would repent, that you would heed the words and the wisdom and the warning of the Savior and that you would turn to me and that you would live, that you'd recognize what's right before you. He says in sort of parallel words to verse 42 and verse 44, He says, you did not know the time of your visitation. They did not know the things that make for peace. They did not know the time of their visitation. These are the same, this is two ways of saying essentially the same thing. Jesus is saying what makes for peace is to recognize the time of your visitation. This unique opportunity and special moment when God visited you in the person of Jesus Christ and offered you salvation, but you didn't recognize that this is what was going on. And so many reject Christ as a false teacher and one who presumptuously and blasphemously calls himself God and deserves death rather than worship because he is God in the flesh. They didn't recognize this. They misinterpreted. They rejected the message of the gospel. But Jesus says, would that you had known these things. The way that you did recognize me and receive me. And so you see here these deep sympathies in the heart of the Savior. This reminds me of Ezekiel 33, 11. A verse that's worthy of our reflection and it's really worthy of our remembrance. We need to memorize verses like this. They help us to keep in mind the proper perspective. When we deal with sinners, this is how God thinks of this fallen world. Because honestly, if you're like me, oftentimes the heart of God towards those who are in sin is at odds with my heart towards a world that's in sin. The more that I see the vulgarity and the depravity of this world, the more that I despise this world. And I can't wait to be free from this world and the sin that is so prevalent and so celebrated in this world. And to see the way that people despise my Lord and dishonor Him, it makes me angry. Even recently, I had someone say something negative about our church. It was totally unfounded, so don't worry about it. And you know what? I had a flash of anger, because in my heart, I moderated that, and I handle myself well, but it's like, those are my people you're talking about, and they're good people. Well, when the world speaks the way they do of my Savior, it makes me angry. And I can have not a general pity for this world, I can have a general frustration, a general, you know, anger and impatience and so forth. But listen to the way that the Lord deals with this and the way that He approaches this and His heart towards This fallen world. Ezekiel 33 11 says, Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back. Turn back from your evil ways. For why will you die, O house of Israel? because the people turn from Him as they reject Him, as they pursue the idols of the peoples around them and the worldliness and all of this, the Lord does not take delight in the prospect of judgment falling upon them on their death because of their wickedness. But what He would be pleased with is their repentance. J.C. Riles says, we err greatly if we suppose that Christ cares for none but his own believing people. He cares for all. His heart is wide enough to take an interest in all mankind. His compassion extends to every man, woman, and child on earth. He has a love of general pity for the man. There's that phrase, general pity. He has a love of general pity for the man who is going on still in wickedness, as well as a love of special affection for the sheep who hear his voice and follow him. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hardened sinners are fond of making excuses for their conduct, but they will never be able to say that Christ was not merciful and was not ready to save. If you're in your sin this morning, if you make excuses that God hates you, despises you because of your sin, that He's unwilling that you should come to Him, that you're not good enough, He knows you're not good enough, you'll never be good enough, and none of us will be good enough for God to be pleased with what He finds within us. But that's not the basis of our coming to Him. We come to Him for Jesus' sake, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. We come pleading the name of Jesus Christ. And God is willing and more than willing to deal graciously with us because of what Jesus has done for us. And so his arms are extended open wide. And week by week, as the Gospels proclaim here, you need to understand that if you refuse to come to him, that you cannot use the excuse that he would not receive you. The only thing that keeps you from him is your unwillingness to come. His arms are open wide and he would receive you. His heart is filled with the deepest of sympathies and this general pity for all mankind. But this sort of reminds us and it causes us to reflect on our own heart. Again, is your heart like mine is sometimes? Is your heart at odds with the heart of the Savior towards those who are in sin, who are lost? We have friends and family who even now in this hour, they're not here. Why aren't they here? Because they will not come and worship the Lord. They're going to live for themselves. They're going to live for a life of comfort and leisure and selfishness and worldly pleasures. They will not do this, and so does your heart feel angry towards them? And I want you to consider, not only do we have the example of Christ here, but the example of other prophets and apostles in the Bible. In Jeremiah 8, as he contemplates the destruction of Jerusalem that he was going to see in his own day, which the Lord had promised, on the eve of Jerusalem's destruction, Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 8, starting in verse 18, My joy is gone. Grief is upon me. My heart is sick within me. Again, he's thinking about those who have despised and rejected the Lord. Yet, he says, my joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick within me. Behold the cry of the daughter of my people. From the length and breadth of the land, is the Lord not in Zion? Is her king not in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols? The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved. For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded. I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician here? Why then has the help of the daughter of my people not been restored?" And so Jeremiah laments over the destruction of the people. A destruction that is the result of their own rejection of God. Their own covenant unfaithfulness and disobedience. Likewise, we hear in Isaiah 48, 18, I think about in the New Testament the way that the Apostle Paul in Romans 9 speaks in this way. I'm speaking the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. He's thinking about the unbelieving Jews in his day that have rejected the Savior. Again, J.C. Ryle says, we know but little of true Christianity if we do not feel a deep concern about the souls of unconverted people. A lazy indifference about the spiritual state of others may doubtless save us much trouble. It's easier to just not care. To care nothing whether our neighbors are going to heaven or hell is no doubt the way of the world. But a man of this spirit is very unlike David, who said, Rivers of water run down mine eyes, because men keep not thy law. He's very unlike Paul, who said, I have great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart for my brethren. Above all, he's very unlike Christ. If Christ felt tenderly about wicked people, the disciples of Christ ought to feel likewise. So first of all, there are these deep sympathies we see in the heart of our Savior towards sinners, but there's also missed opportunities for sinners that we see in this passage. As Jesus goes on to say in verse 42, would that you, even you had known on this day the things that make for peace. Later on in verse 44, again, he's going to say, you did not know the judgment that is coming upon you, that he's warning them against. This judgment has come because you did not know the time of your visitation. It's important for us to remember that for each of us who hears the gospel and we are not owed a gospel presentation. No man is owed that the gospel be preached to them. So the fact that you have heard the gospel and have been called to faith in Christ is a great mercy of God that he's even He's even offered salvation to you because He doesn't owe you even the offer of salvation. And yet He has offered salvation full and free. But for each of us who hears the gospel, there is an opportunity and it may be fleeting. It is a passing moment. You will not be here for much longer. It's 1149 right now. Maybe you'll be already leaving the parking lot by 1230, less than an hour, and you're not guaranteed to ever hear the gospel again or ever have an opportunity to respond to it. And even if you stay in church for the rest of your life and you have hundreds of more opportunities to hear the gospel, you may never hear it as so compelling as it sounds to you right now. Maybe in this moment you think your heart may be even moved somewhat. You feel inclined to believe this and perhaps the Lord is stirring up something in your heart. Well, you can't assume that it will always be the case. Maybe the next time you hear the gospel, you'll be hardened in your heart towards it. You'll never again find it to be reasonable. The Lord does grant salvation. He is the one that moves our hearts. He is the one that opens our eyes. But the way in which he works is that he brings judgments upon us for not believing. If we refuse to trust in him, then he will blind us as a sort of a judicial blindness. judge of our souls we see this in Romans chapter 1 just flip there very quickly in in in Romans chapter 1 we see this that God revealed himself to all mankind through the things that have been made but people refused to give him thanks they refused to honor him as God they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things therefore What did God do? He gave them up. So that now they're even further gone and it's more difficult now for them to make that turnaround, to repent of their sins, to honor God as God. And again and again, He gives them up. We see this in Pharaoh's day, where God blinded Pharaoh to the truth of what was right before him. And so lest we be blinded to these realities. Well, look at what Jesus says here in our passage in Luke 19. Would that you even you had known on this day the things that make for peace, but now they're hidden from your eyes. You had an opportunity to respond. You were visited from on high. The gospel was proclaimed to you, but you rejected it. And now these things are hidden from your eyes. There is this judicial hardness or this judicial blindness where God as punishment for sin has now blinded them. Hebrews 12 verses 15 through 17 says, we read this, see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God. That's my exhortation to you this morning. God's grace is on offer. The grace of salvation is being freely offered to you. You just have to trust in Christ. Repent of your sins and believe on Jesus. But the author of the Hebrews says, see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God. Like Esau, and he uses Esau as an example, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when Esau desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected for he found no chance to repent. though he sought it with tears. There's a missed opportunity there. He did not take the chance that he'd been given to repent and to believe, and he never found it again. In 2 Corinthians 6-2, Paul quotes from Isaiah 49, in a favorable time, I listened to you, and in the day of salvation, I have helped you. In other words, there are favorable times when the Lord is willing. And then Paul exhorts the church from these words saying, In 2 Corinthians 6, behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Psalm 95, 7-8, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah. So I want you to see here the missed opportunity of sinners The Lord gives us opportunities. There is a deep sympathy. There is a general pity. The Lord shows great compassion towards sinners in giving us any opportunities. But we can miss these opportunities. It's quite possible. And so I would call on you to think very carefully and how you're responding to these words. Then finally we see severe penalties. The judgment on a destruction of Jerusalem, it parallels the destruction of our souls on the day of judgment. We look at this and we say, okay, well, Jesus was right and he spoke from knowledge when he pronounced this judgment on the people in verse 43. The days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and him you in on every side. That was fulfilled during the siege of Jerusalem. Verse 44, "...and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you." Jerusalem was destroyed. The temple was destroyed. They plowed the city under so that the civilization would not be able to be rebuilt. That was the idea. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem. And Jesus' words came to fruition. But it's not just this earthly city or civilization that is being judged for their sin. This destruction is a foreshadowing of a greater judgment that will come upon all mankind who reject the offer of salvation in Jesus Christ because of their sins. Hebrews 9.27 says, it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. Make no mistake, this same God, He can be tender. He can be sympathetic for those who have rejected Him, and He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The wicked should turn from their sins. And yet this same God is unyielding and inflexible in His judgment. He is giving time that we might repent. He's giving us this opportunity that we would turn and yet in the end, our Lord will bring judgment and there will be justice. Where do you stand before him? Let the warnings of Jesus, let them frighten you, let them bother you, concern you, weigh heavy upon your soul. Don't leave her here if you don't know that you know that you are right with the Lord, that you have peace with God through Jesus Christ. Do not leave from here feeling okay. Don't feel as if all is well, that your soul is fine. Leave here with a heavy burden. But ultimately what I want you to see and what my heart is this morning What the Lord's heart ultimately is, is that you would come to Him. That you would see His tears over Jerusalem and His tears over you as an invitation to come to Him and to be saved. He came in His humanity, in His first advent, in order to save sinners and offer salvation to those who are in their sin. So I'd urge you to come to Him. while there is time as we pray together. Father God, we thank you that you have preached the gospel to us. You've sent your son to accomplish salvation. You've called preachers to pronounce this salvation, to proclaim it far and wide. We thank you that we have heard it. And God, we pray that you give us this grace not to blind us or to harden us, to hide these truths from our minds and our hearts, but to compel us and to persuade us and to change us, to give us the new birth. We might be born again from above and changed radically, spiritually, from the inside out. We might see Jesus for who he is and throw ourselves upon his mercy. We might receive grace from him. We pray that you would do the things within us that only you can do. We pray that you would bring those who are outside of Christ here this morning to salvation in him. Now we pray that for those of us who are trusting in Christ, we pray that you give us the same heart towards the lost and towards this fallen world that you yourself have. Pray that you'd help us to not become disillusioned or jaded or bitter towards those who are in sin as we once were. God to show patience and have compassion, and to continue God faithfully preaching the gospel to them. And if they can't be won by our words, God, we pray that they would be won by our tears. We pray all of this in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen.