20250713-2 Alton

The speaker reflects on the events that took place when Jesus died on the cross, focusing on key moments from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They discuss the significance of Jesus' death, the tearing of the temple veil, and the darkness that fell over the land. These events symbolize Jesus' spiritual death and the access to God made available through his sacrifice. The speaker emphasizes the importance of these events in fulfilling prophecies and demonstrating God's power. It's been a wonderful weekend. Don and I appreciate so much being with you and your stand for the truth. It's amazing to me when you all have the same book, you can get on the same page, and you can know what God wants us to do. I've preached in South Africa and England and different cities, different places out west, and I'm telling you, we all do the same thing on the first day of the week because we have a pattern, and it's in God's Word. I want to speak to you a few moments this afternoon concerning five events that took place when Jesus died, when he died on the cross. Interesting events, and I want to read, I'll use the New King James Version, I think that's what most of you use, the New King James Version. I'm going to read all four of these Gospels, and then we can bring from this reading some thoughts that we want to talk about this afternoon. First, Matthew 27, beginning in verse 50. You know, Jesus Christ was the only man that ever lived to be about 30 years old with an incalculable mind. He never sinned. Out of the billions of people upon the earth, he's the only one. In Matthew 27, verse 50, beginning, it's recorded for us, it says, And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, not a quiet voice, but a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split. And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the graves after the resurrection, it was after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to me, they went into Jerusalem. So, when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared brethren, saying, Truly, this was the Son of God. They had been atheists before the crucifixion, but they were the atheists after the crucifixion. Now, if you will, turn with me to Mark, chapter 15, and verse 13, 34. Mark, chapter 15, beginning in verse 33. And I want to read down through verse 39. Now, when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. That's 12 noon, the mid-afternoon. Darkness over the whole land, and at the ninth hour, verse 34, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama, sabathimai, which is translated by God, by God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of those who stood by when they heard that said, Look, he's calling for Elijah. Then someone ran and filled a sponge-full of sour wine, put it on a wreath, and offered it to them to drink. Let him alone, let me see if Elijah will come and take him down. And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his life. And then the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. So when the centurion who stood opposite Jesus saw, and he cried out like this and breathed his life, he said, Truly, this man was the Son of God. Now, if you will, go with me to Luke, chapter 23, and verse 33, beginning. Luke 23, verse 33, beginning. And this is a little bit lengthy, but I'd like to read this, because each one of the Gospels is an example of some good points. In Luke, chapter 23, beginning in verse 23, I mean, excuse me, 33, And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Jesus, and the criminal was one on the right hand and the other on the left. And then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. And they divided his body into ten parts. And the people stood looking on, but even the rulers, the rulers of the Jews, when they sneered and said, He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Christ, the Chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked Jesus, coming and offering one cup of wine and saying, And saying, If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself. And an inscription also was written over Jesus in letters of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and says, And it reads, This is the King of the Jews. Then one of the criminals who was hanged last night in Jesus said, If you are the Christ, save yourself now. But the other answered, Rebuke him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same kind of nature? And we, indeed justly, for we receive the true reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. And then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the bell of the temple was pouring through. And when Jesus had cried out with the loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, Certainly, this was a righteous thing. And the whole crowd who came together to that site, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts. I may be a monster, but I can't help but beat their breasts. And so they returned. But all of his acquaintances, Jesus' acquaintances, and the women who followed Jesus, they stood at a distance watching these things. And last of all, let's look at John 19, verse 17, beginning. John 19, verse 17, beginning. And Jesus, bearing his cross, went out to a place called the Place of the Skulls. I've read some of this. It was a rock formation that actually sort of looked like a skull. And so they took Jesus, and they went out to a place called the Skull, which is called in Hebrew Galapagos. And where they crucified Jesus, two others with him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a poem and put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. So this is the only scripture that reveals where Jesus was from. That's Nazareth. The others didn't reveal that. Then many of the Jews went there from Pilate, and from the place where Jesus was crucified, up near the sea, and it was written in Hebrew Greek and Latin. Therefore the chief priest of the Jews said to Pilate, You look like the King of the Jews, but he said, I am the King of the Jews. And Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without sitting, woven from the top in one piece. And they said, Therefore among themselves, The ten flocks there, who did shall be? If the scripture might be fulfilled, it says in Psalm 22, verse 18, They divided my garments among them, and from my clothing they kept flocks. Therefore the soldiers did these things. Now therefore stood by the cross with Jesus his mother, and his mother stood to marry the wife. And married the wife of Pophat and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciples that he loved, standing by, he said to his mother, Woman, behold, I saw thee. And he said to the disciples, Behold, your mother. And from that hour, the disciples took her to the dawn hall. And after this, he, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scriptures might be fulfilled, said, Now a vessel full of sour wine was filled. And they filled the straws with sour wine, put it on his head, and he put it to his mouth. So that when Jesus had received the sour wine, he could give his speech. And knowing this, he said, he gave up his speech. Therefore, because it was the preparation that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and the other who was crucified for Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, and they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced the side of the spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he, who had been clean and had testified and had gone to speak in the third person, And he, who had been clean and had testified and had taken on his tribute, And he showed that he was telling the truth so that he might go to do. For these things were done that the truth should be fulfilled. Not one of his bones shall be broken. And again another scripture says, They shall look on him in whom they got pierced. But first of all, look at the thought of the sun was darkened. We read in Luke 23, it was about six hours, about twelve minutes to three in the afternoon. And darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. Because the sun was obscured, it was darkened. Who did it cause? God did it. God was darkened. Leper's Dictionary defines what the word obscured is to make dark. Them are insistent to conceal or to hide as of a covering. Hence, God darkens the sun. Without the sun or the moon, the stars give off their blue light. And darkness. Why? Well, darkness signifies death. And Jesus is dying. You know, it's just, it's what God determines to do. And death is personal. Hebrews 9, verse 12. It's appointed unto man that thou walk in that position of judgment. No matter what the reason, that God darkened the earth. He did it. And so, Jesus died spiritually that day so he could live spiritually. Secondly, the well of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. Not the bottoms of the domes, but the tops of the bottoms. It was a thick piece of vomit. And, as I've been told in commentaries, you couldn't rip it. Man couldn't tear it down. And it had to be God that tore it because it was torn from the top to the bottom. And notice what it says here. That it was torn in two. Not in one, not in three, but in two. So, it was torn completely in two. The veil was. The veil separates the holy from the most holy. We know from Exodus 26 and verse 33, the new American Sabbath version. It says, the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies. Only the high priest could go in the most holy place. And that was only once a year. Oh, how much we could get blessed. When that veil was torn down, we could approach Jesus 24-7. We could enter into his presence in prayer to the Father. In Hebrews 6 and verse 19, it says, this hope we have is the anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters within the veil. It's a hope of the soul. It's an anchor of the soul. I remember we left Yankee State in South Vietnam. It was in December of 1968 at the end of the service. We were going there for all along. Coming to China 26 miles away. We anchored out. Anchored out in the harbor of Hong Kong. I'm thinking of Corinth, which Kim is teaching us this afternoon. Corinth was a seaport town. I've been there. You know, Corinth had multiple languages. You go to Hong Kong, multiple languages. These ships come in all kinds of languages from all over the world. It's just a thing. So we anchored out. So I'm an addiction agent. I work down the bottom. So I'm on duty this particular day. And I go up topside and I look around and I saw that there's a beautiful city of Hong Kong. I go blank for the next whole day. Two or three hours, I come up again. I look to the starboard. And Hong Kong's gone. I look to the port. And there's Hong Kong. What happened? What moved the ship? What about the anchor? It was sure and steadfast. It didn't move. Who's our anchor? Jesus. He's sure and steadfast. He will not move. And so he's given us an access to him. Because the bell of the temple is tolling. And so you've noticed again, 1 Thessalonians 2 through 22, the New Americans saying, Therefore, brethren, if we have confidence in the holy place, the holy place, Jesus' church, as 1 Thessalonians 2 through 25, where the holy priesthood, by the blood of Jesus, by a new living way which he, speaking of Jesus, inaugurated for us through the veil, that is his flesh. So the veil was torn in two, and Jesus died on the cross. Let us go near him with the sincere heart of a full matured faith, having our hearts meant to change from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed in pure water. Jesus is our mediator. In fact, he's the only mediator. There's not another mediator. 1 Timothy 2 and verse 5, it talks about, For there is only one God, and one mediator between God and man. The man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. Through Jesus as our high priest, we have access now to the Father. In fact, Jesus said in John 14 and verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come from the Father except through me. So Jesus as our high priest, we have that access. In 1 John 2 and verse 22, If anyone sayeth, We have an advocate with the Father. You look at the definition of advocate. It's like an attorney. It's like a counselor. I've read 9 and verse 2. Who's our counselor? Jesus. We have an advocate. We have a counselor. We're the followers of Jesus Christ, the righteous. Indeed, we speak of Jesus. In yourself is our perpetuation. In that word perpetuation, according to Webster's dictionary, means to appease one's anger. You see, without Jesus dying on the cross, we would have no hope. It's to give favor, the perpetuation of God gives favor to us through his name, Jesus, through his blood. And only through Jesus as our high priest can we approach the Father in prayer. In Hebrews 9 and verse 28, Jesus died for the sins of man. I want to read Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 10. 10 through 12. In Hebrews chapter 2, verses 10 through 12, concerning Jesus. Who it was created for him, for whom are all things, saith Jesus, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory. Without Jesus' name would no one be able to talk to glory. He brings many sons to glory. And notice what it said, to make the captain of this outrage perfect through suffering. I think of it sometimes, to go back to, I was in the Navy. You know, we had a captain. He was the boss. And we had shipmates, fellowship, like fellows in a ship. We all was going in the same direction. We all had the same mission. We all had the same captain. And this captain would bring many sons to glory. And that's Jesus Christ. And to do that, the veil of the temple needed to be torn. And God did that. Thirdly, the earthquake and the rock split at the time of Jesus' death. In Matthew 27, verse 21, it says, the earthquake and the rock were split, and it took great power. The earthquake at the coming of the law of Moses, Exodus 19, verse 8. You remember that Mount Sinai? The earthquake there? In Haggai chapter 2, verse 6. All of this is prophesied in Jesus' prophetic. Haggai 2 and verse 6 in the first part of verse 7. For thus says the Lord of hosts, once more, a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will shake all the nations. And God has done this. I want to read Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 25 again. In Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 25 again, I'll use the New Testament. Well, I'll just use the New Testament verse. Hebrews 12, 25 through 28. See that you do not refuse him, Jesus, who speaks. Do you refuse Jesus? Don't refuse Jesus. For if they did not expect to refuse him who spoke on earth, what more shall we not expect if we turn away from him, from Jesus, who speaks from heaven? Whose voice did shook the earth, but now he, Jesus, has promised him, yet once more, I shake not only the earth, but also heaven, God. And now he has yet once more indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken and the things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. What does that mean? Well, from all Moses, that has been taken out of the way. Verse 28. Therefore, since we were receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God as heavenly with Heavens and Father Peter. All the earth was shaken, even from the law of Moses king. And whenever Jesus smiled, the earth shook. Well, I'm going to show you. He may have been an atheist, but he held him to the cross. Look at it. He said, truly, this is just how it is. Have you ever heard the expression, boy, it's been a shake-up of the office to them? You know what that means? They've been a shaking at the top. They've been a shaking. The earthquake, the law of Moses, Colossians 2.14. It's out of the way. They've been a shake-up. So they've been a shake-up. And he said to Haggai, there's going to be much more of that. And it took place. But Jesus died. There's going to be a shake-up. The shaking of heaven and earth with the tearing of the veil from the temple indicates that the change is taking place. And that's what it was. And it's recorded for us in Colossians 2.14. A new covenant. A new agreement. The gospel of Jesus is now in effect. It's your heaven. It's your earth. You know, heaven is the place of God to build the church. We know here on the earth. It is the kingdom that cannot be moved. Hades cannot destroy it. The law of Moses bore it. But it's taken out of the way. I think of it. I got this from Bill Hall. He was preaching it. He told me. And it was going to wave and go on down forward and forward. So, he gets up. He installed it. And he said, the moon was so bright that you don't want to sign up for that to get by. And I think of these. I think of the stars on a crystal clear. That's the patriarch. Look at them. There's one. There's a black one. What about the full moon? I think of that as like, what's the law of Moses? Wasn't that glorious? To the full moon of Moses. Wasn't it great? But it was nothing compared to the sun. Have you ever noticed on a full moon night and then the sun comes up? What happens to the moon? It fades away. Can you still see the image of the moon? Yeah, for a few hours. But it's not giving me light. So, what happens to the gospel? Now, it's the law of the world. And so, this took place when Jesus, who died, he took the law of Moses. Out of the way in John 19, verse 89, God's word is forever and ever. We have the complete world. Jesus is now full of men and Lord of lords. Verse 56 and verse 15. Fourthly, Jesus is resurrected. In Matthew 27, verses 62 and 53, Jesus was raised from the dead. And then he is the same there in Jerusalem. Do you think those saints that were raised by God out of their graves were the people in Jerusalem, you know? Sure. They weren't the saints raised to 300 years earlier. They weren't the law-enforcing saints of the day. It had to be someone that they would recognize. And God was proving to man that he had power over there. And he raised those saints from the dead. In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 26, the Jew American, Sander Bolger, said, The last enemy that will be abolished is death. And through Jesus' resurrection, that was accomplished. Because, as we read this morning from the history of Pythagoras, that was accomplished. Number five. The Roman soldiers became believers. Matthew 27, verse 54. And when the centurion and those with him saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly. And they said, Truly this was the Son of God. This was a confirmation that they acknowledged that Jesus was the Son of God. If the Roman soldiers were atheists before, there are no longer any. Imagine, hardly Roman soldiers. I mean, this is just a job. They've done this, evidently, many times before. And, as I understand it, according to some of the resources I've studied, that whoever did the crucifixion, or crucified, whatever that was that they were crucified, the possessions that were there at the crucifixion belonged to those luchers. They took their clothes off them. I mean, can you imagine? I think that's probably what he did to those people. For the shame, or the joy that was there before. Enduring the cross, despising the shame. It was a shame for them in despicable ways to die of the devil. And Jesus did that for us. The Roman soldiers cast lots for his clothes. Matthew 27, verse 35. They had no compassion for the Babylonians. It doesn't appear to them. Oh, they cast lots for his tomb. They divided one garland and divided it up in four. And notice, in Hebrews 12, in verse 2, talking of Jesus. For the joy that was there before him, enduring the cross, despising the shame, and now he's sitting at the right hand of the Son of God. So, here is the Roman soldiers. They didn't seem to mind the crucifixion. They were just doing their job. And Luke 23, verse 23. When they came to the point called the store, there they crucified Jesus and the criminals. Can you imagine? They put him in the middle between two criminals. Jesus, yes, is the Savior of the world. But that very devil, he saved Barabbas. Barabbas was saved. He died as part of it. And Jesus died in his place. So, he died in the first short time. I wonder if Barabbas did the same today. I wonder if Barabbas saw all these events that we talked about today. I hope he did. But those, going back to the soldiers, they were just obeying orders. And they were taught exactly for the drive of Christ. And Jesus said, God, who was not made in conversion, if you destroy this temple in three days, I will raise it up. But he, speaking of Jesus, was speaking of the temple of his mother. Many exciting events took place at the time of Jesus' death. And you know who reached the wards of Olivet first? Without that, we would have no hope. Oh, thank God for Jesus. His willingness to go to that cross, he said it was his life. He could lay it down, and he could take it up. And for our sake, he laid it down. And God took it up and set him at the right hand of God for our saviors today. If you hear this afternoon and you're not a Christian, we beseech you to become a Christian. I mentioned this, there's more time for sin than you're going to take to heaven. See, though, you're not going to take any sin to heaven. If you can take one sin to heaven, it won't be the value of Jesus, it's not. It's going to be the value of the world. So we have to have our sin defeated and let the use of the blood of Jesus wash our sins away. If you've fallen back into the ways of the world, you can come back. I did a little short synopsis of what happened just recently. Well, in 1 Peter 1, verses 3-5, it talks about there's no hope. Over in 1 Thessalonians 4, chapter 4, it talks about no hope. Well, what about in there? Well, that would mean, of course, 2 Peter 2. In 2 Peter 2, I think of this, it seems inferred for sure, someone who has replaced the cross. And then go back into the ways of the world. What happens to their hope? Is it still living or is it now dead? Well, let's read. For if, as it is, they have escaped the pollutions of the world. This is someone who has obeyed the gospel, Peter is saying. How did they escape? Well, through the knowledge of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ. They are again entangled in Him and overcome. And the matter here is worse than the beginning. Notice what he says in verse 21. For if, for it would have been better if they had not known the way of the gospel. If they had known it, it would have turned them to holy commandments of living. Can you imagine? In hell? Knowing what we know today. And we give that up and we go back into the pollutions of the world. That rolls over and over in our mind eternally. Notice verse 22. It happened to them according to the truth of both fathers. A dog returns to its farmer. And the sow has water to her watering in the mire. I was raised on a farm. And I've seen a dog return to its farmer. It's sickening. And we had fattening hogs. We'd get raised on hogs. I've literally took a water hose and pushed them up a little bit. The whole hog would get that water in the mire. And the mire is not just mud and water. It's waste. It stinks. So God is using methods that sin is sickening and sin stinks. And if we would have turned back into those ways, after knowing the way of truth, it would have been better for it never to have happened. So if you have a need for the gospel education, here's what we give you to come. This is what you have to say.