The Open Fountain

Text: Zechariah 13:1-7

¹ ‍In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness‍^a‍. ‍ ² ‍And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.‍ ³ ‍And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.‍ ⁴ ‍And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough‍^b‍ garment to deceive:  ‍ ⁵ ‍But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman;‍^†‍ for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.‍ ⁶ ‍And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.‍ ^[1]

What is this fountain that is said to be opened?  It is a fountain opened to the house of David, and the inhabitants , for sin and for uncleanness. We observe, therefore, that the blessing here spoken of deals with the greatest evils to which mankind is subject—sin and uncleanness.

We have all fallen; we have all proved our fall by our sinful practice. Sin has separated us from God and brought upon us the divine wrath; uncleanness, which is a tendency still to sin, a defilement of our nature, prevents our returning to our heavenly Father, and entering into renewed fellowship with him. This great evil in its double form is, according to the text, distinctly recognized by God; it is not winked at, it is not treated as a trifle that may remain, and yet man may be beloved of God and be happy; no, but the evil being there, preparation is made for its removal. The text says, not that the filthiness is concealed, that the transgression is excused, but that there is a fountain opened for the effectual removal of sin and uncleanness. In the gospel God never trifles with human sin. We proclaim full, free, immediate forgiveness to the very chief of sinners, but it is not in a way which makes men think that sin is trivial in God's esteem, for there is coupled with the declaration of pardon a description of the way in which God by the sacrifice of his Son renders it possible for him to be merciful without being unjust.

In the substitution of Christ Jesus we see justice and mercy peacefully embracing, and conferring double honor upon each other.

There is a fountain prepared for the purging away of the defilement, and it is opened to the house of David, for the great and mighty, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the poor, common people of every class in every nation and city around the world.

To anyone who feels locked in sin, God has provided means for delivering you from your sins.

The text recalls to your notice the double nature of the evil of sin, and the character of the provision which meets the double evil. The fountain is opened for sin, that refers, no doubt, to the guilt of sin, to sin as offending God and deserving punishment. There is a fountain opened in the atonement, by which the offense rendered to God's honor and dignity is put away.

What if we have sinned, yet the Lord has punished that sin in the sacrifice of his own Son, he has thus fulfilled his threatening, and proven the truth of his word. In Jesus Christ, therefore, the guilt of those for whom he was a substitute is put away consistently with the righteousness of the great Lawgiver. God is just and yet the justifier of him that believes in Jesus.

But this would not be enough; there is a second dilemma, namely, that our nature has become unclean and consequently estranged from God.

Through our natural corruption and the effect of our past sin, we are diseased morally and spiritually, our mind is in itself biased towards evil and averse from good. God does not pardon sin and leave the sinner as he was in other respects, but wherever forgiveness of the guilt is bestowed a renewal of the nature is wrought!!!!!!!

The fountain opened for pardon is also opened for purification. The washing which takes away the offense before heaven removes also the love of offending, giving us  double joy!

Every true repentant believer should feel that sheer pardon would be a poor advantage to him if it allowed him to continue in sin? Pardon alone is simply not enough!  My God, deliver me from sin itself, for this is the great burden of my soul. Oh, could I have the past forgiven, and yet live an enemy to my God, enslaved by evil and a stranger to holiness—then were I still accursed! What if God ceases to punish wickedness, yet sin in itself is a curse; to love the wrong is the beginning of hell. Blessed be the Lord, when he opened the fountain to cleanse his sinful people, he made it "of sin the double cure," that it might at the same time cleanse us from its guilt and power. For our double need there is, according to the text, one supply only but its more than enough to take care of you and me!

No mention is made of two fountains, neither are there two methods for the putting away of sin. But the one method is divine, God himself has devised, ordained, and prepared it.

For anyone in need of cleansing, we have the privilege to Wash, because there is a fountain opened.

If you want  sin eradicated from your  nature, and your heart made pure:  Wash!, for heaven declares that the fountain is opened for this also!

 Don’t think that God has proposed an ineffective means of purification. His arrangements are never failures!

 Man may through his poverty provide a feast which is so bare as to mock the hunger of those invited; his inadequate hospitality may be an insult to the greatness of human necessity; but it is never so with God. For his banquet of mercy oxen and fatlings are killed, milk and wine run in rivers, the well-fed herds are prepared for the banquet; .

 When God appoints a supply for any need, we may be assured that it is a real and sufficient provision. Rest assured that in Jesus' sacrifice there is an effectual provision for the forgiveness of sin, and an infallible means for the purging of your nature from its tendency to sin.

God in the covenant of grace provides no seeming, superficial impression, but in full reality he satisfies the longing soul!  There is provided for your sin and your uncleanness that which exactly meets your need.  God does not mess around and play games with your eternal soul, because He loves us and wants the best for us.

According to the verse before us this provision is inexhaustible. There is a fountain opened; not a cistern nor a reservoir, but a fountain. A fountain continues  to bubble up, and is as full after fifty years as in its beginning; and even so the provision and the mercy of God for the forgiveness and the justification of our souls continually flows and overflows.

There is a supply so huge that when thousands of the sons of Adam come they find that there is enough for their demands, and as new generations continue still to come all along the centuries, they shall find that the supply has not in any degree been diminished. For the sin of Adam and Abel the atonement was sufficient, but it will be equally so for the last repenting sinner just before the end of time!

 David saw the cleansing flood, and washed away his crimson sins, but he left the fountain undefiled, and it is as effective for you and for me as it was for him!!! For sinners in the last days the fountain is as full, as cleansing, and as free, as for sinners in the first ages of the world.

God has made provision for the great necessity of men in this double form of sins guilt and sins bondage. We have hope to know that  there is a divinely appointed and inexhaustible supply, and it is intended for high and low, rich and poor, for the royal and the ragged, the prince and the pauper.

When was this fountain opened? When was this divine and inexhaustible supply revealed to men? The answer is that  The fountain was opened for sin and for uncleanness when the Lord Jesus died. God, the everlasting Word, was made flesh and dwelt among us, and in fullness of time the weight of human sin was laid on him. In order to put that sin away he must die, for death was the penalty for guilt; up to the cross he went through agonies unspeakable, and at the last he yielded up his soul; and when he did so sin was put away, and the fountain for the cleansing of sin was opened.

When the soldier with the spear pierced his side, and  there came forth blood and water, then it was proven that this was he who came not with water only, but by water and by blood, so Jesus is a Savior who takes away the offense of sin as touching God, and the defilement of sin in human nature.

What other god can offer you a deal like that………..none!

Furthermore, the fountain may be said to be opened to each one of us when the gospel is preached to us. "In that day there shall be a fountain opened," also means  that whenever the gospel of Jesus Christ is fully and faithfully preached, then the cleansing strength of the atonement of Jesus which before was as a sealed fountain, is opened to those who hear!

 And best of all, according to the connection of the text, this fountain is opened in the day when men repent of sin. Does it not say that they shall mourn each family apart, and their wives apart, and in that day shall there be a fountain opened! The sinner does not find a Savior until he bewails his sin; when he sees his own filthiness then  the way to have that filthiness removed is made clear to him.

God is always willing to forgive, but we are not always willing to be forgiven!!!

The fountain is experimentally opened to each one of us when we spiritually discern it, believe in it, and are made partners of its cleansing power, but we each must act on the Open Fountain for it to have any positive healing effect in our lives.

A long time ago, a German prince who was entertained by the French Government, was taken to the galleys of Toulon, where a number of men were held as convicts on account of their crimes. The commandant decreed that in honor of the prince's visit, some prisoner whom he might choose should be set at liberty. The prince went around amongst the prisoners, and talked with them, they all knowing that he had the power to liberate just one of them. He found that according to their talk they were nearly all innocent, and had been condemned by mistake, or by flagrant injustice. He passed them all by, and spoke with one who talked in another style. He was guilty upon his own confession. "I certainly," said he, "have no reason to complain of my hard work in the galleys, for if I had my due I should have been put to death for my crimes." He went on to acknowledge with much humility the former evils of his life, and the justice of his sentence. The prince set him free, and said, "This is the only man in this entire place who is fit to be pardoned; he has a sense of his transgressions, he may be trusted in society." So too, the pardoning mercy of God passes by those who say each one in their souls, "I am not guilty, I have not been more sinful than other people, I see nothing very remarkable in my case, and if I were sent to hell the sentence would be too severe."

Although there is a fountain for sin and uncleanness by Jesus Christ, it is not opened personally to your experience, you cannot see it, do not appreciate it, and will not participate in its benefits unless you know yourself to be a sinner; but if there be here one really guilty, one who feels his sin to be deserving the wrath of God, then this day I have authority from the Most High to say to him the good news: there is a fountain opened for sin and uncleanness! You mourn your sin, you confess your guilt, you wish you could mourn it more, you feel  undeserving and unworthy—then you are the man to whom the mercy of heaven is this day freely proclaimed. Jesus has come forth on purpose to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. The time for the actual opening of the cleansing fountain to us is the time when the heart confesses its guilt, and desires pardon of the Lord of Heaven and Earth.  Dear friend, has this time come to you?   I encourage some of you to come to Jesus before it is too late.  None of us have a promise of tomorrow in this life.  We must live for Jesus while we have right now.

I encourage you to consider your ways, acknowledge your transgressions, and rest not till the blood of atonement has made you clear from guilt. Is it really necessary for the subject to be pressed upon you? Surely your own reason should lead you to be anxious upon a matter so vital to your soul's eternal interests. How sad it will be if there be a fountain and yet you die unwashed! If there be a Savior, and you perish for ever, what misery it will be!  It does not have to end that way, anybody can come to Jesus Christ and be made whole in every aspect of their lives, how about one or two or three who may be here right now in need of eternal redemption?

Remember:   it is a fountain  OPEN.

Closing:  The means by which sin and sinfulness can be put away are at this moment accessible!

 The atonement is not a fountain hid and concealed, and closed and barred and bolted, it is a fountain open. The doctrine I have to teach is very simple and plain;  it is the plainest gospel doctrine in the world, and yet I am very, very happy to be able to speak it to you, because I do trust God will bless it to many, that they may find the pardon of their sin, and the removal of their uncleanness. I would more rapidly tell you the good news from heaven in broken up English than anything else with the tongue of an angel.

The fountain which God has provided is open right now.

So What is meant by this? It means partly that the gospel is so preached that you can understand it; the gospel at this day is not concealed in Latin, as it was before the days of Luther, it is not wrapped up in types and shadows, as it was in the old dispensation; the gospel is preached in many places in this world as plainly as words could deliver it, so plainly that he that runs may read it. I will tell it to you again. God must punish sin, but he has laid the punishment on Jesus Christ on the Cross of  Calvary, and whosoever believeth in Christ Jesus is forgiven. Why do not men accept the Savior? Why do they not come and trust him?

When people trust Him and are born again of the water and Spirit, they are saved!

"There is life in a look at the Crucified One."

We have bidden you look to Jesus, and have told you, in God's name, that as you look to the Crucified and Resurrected One you shall find eternal life. Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound; more blessed still if they yield in total obedience and surrender to the voice of the Savior.