Open your Bibles to the book
of Matthew this morning. Matthew chapter 27. Matthew 27. I'll begin our reading at verse
50. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded
up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple
was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth
did quake, and the rocks rent. And the graves were opened, and
many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of
the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city,
and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion and they
that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake and
those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying,
Truly this was the Son of God. This week, while on the trip
with my family for a few days. We stayed in a motel in the mountains. And the first morning after that,
we slept that first night. I rose early like I always do
and made my way down to the breakfast room in order to get that necessary
morning coffee. Jerry knows something about that.
And I'm usually the only one there. I'm usually always by
myself, but to my surprise, there was a multitude of people there. And I found out after a bit that
they were a large tour group. Altogether I think I heard someone
say about 2,000 people who had come and had got up early that
morning to go to a particular place called the Heavenly Mountain
to meditate. And they did so with the thought
that being high on a mountain like that, on a quiet mountain,
they would be closer to God. They would be able to be nearer
and have greater access to the ear of God. And as they were
leaving, there was one lady who saw me sitting there by myself. I guess she felt sorry for me. So as she went by, she said,
There's a lot of positive energy in the air this morning. Be sure
and get some. And my thoughts were immediately,
it's not positive energy that's in the air, it's the prince and
the power of the air that is at work this morning. And he
is, as he always is, deceiving men and women, deceiving them
as to the way to God, deceiving them as to how access is gained
to God, acceptance is gained with God. When we look at this
text this morning, we're brought to remember that by God's design,
by His specifications, in that law that He gave to Moses, there
was a veil. You can read about it in Exodus
and Leviticus, but there was a veil or a heavy curtain that
was made of fine twined linen that hung in both the tabernacle
and then later in the temple. And that veil, this curtain,
separated everything and everyone from what he called the holy
of holy, or the holiest. And it was simply called that
because God had told Moses and those people that he would manifest
his presence there. No place is holy unless the Holy
God, the Holy Spirit is there. But God said, I'll dwell over
the mercy seat between those golden cherubims there over the
Ark of the Covenant in that holiest of holies. This curtain was made
and it was decorated with these strands of colorful thread in
a certain pattern and design, it too was fine linen. We read about it in Exodus 26,
God says, And thou shalt make a veil of blue and purple and
scarlet, and fine twine linen of cunning work with cherubims
shall it be made." It hung there separating, forbidding access
into that holy of holies. But there was one individual
who was to go behind that curtain and he was to do so once a year. And that was the high priest
that God had appointed. And he gave instruction to Moses
concerning him. He says in Leviticus 16, And
the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that
he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil
before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark, that he die
not. Even that high priest could not
go in there any time he wanted to or thought he ought to. If he did, he would die. He says, for I will appear in
the cloud upon the mercy seat. And no one could go into that
place, that holy place where God manifested His holy presence
except this priest once a year, and he must go only at that time
with the appointed sacrifice. It had to be the God-appointed
and God-ordained sacrifice, and that had to be repeated every
year because that worked. in and of itself could never
make, as the Apostle says, the comers thereunto perfect. It had to be repeated year after
year. And all down through the history
of Israel, these Priests were appointed of this priestly family,
and with all these various sacrifices, time after time, they had to
be offered once a year, but still nobody else could enter. And when we come to this passage
of Scripture, when we come to this account, what takes place
here happens at the time approximately of the evening sacrifice. And the event that is taking
place is the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And John records that when he
cried out with a loud voice, showing that he was not out of
his mind, he was not weak in his faculties, he cried out with
a loud voice for all to hear, but especially for all his people
to hear. And he said, it is finished.
It is finished. The work of redemption is complete. The blood necessarily shed to
ratify the everlasting covenant has now been shed. The life that
must be laid down for the sheep has now been laid down. He yields up the ghost. He dies
voluntarily. He dies freely and willingly. He dies having laid down his
life, not at simply the hands of his enemies, but he cries
out, it is finished. And then Matthew records this.
Matthew records it. Mark records it and Luke records
it. It says when he said that, that
veil, the veil in the temple that hung there at that very
day and time, after all of these years, it says it was rent in
twain or torn in two from top to bottom. to bottom. And when
that takes place, our Lord, in His infinite wisdom, He gives
us a symbol, that last symbol, one more time, but he adds to
it. There is the veil. There is the
picture. And now it says that it is ripped
or torn in two from top to bottom. And by that God showed that now
There was entrance into his presence. There was access into the holiest. And that priest and that sacrifice
that all those other priests and all those other sacrifices
had typified and represented, that priestly work was now finished
and that one sacrifice was offered. so that now there is access. This is the last sacrifice. There will be no more priests. There will be no need for more
offerings. Because if you look in scripture,
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the priest and sacrifice of
his people is a work that he did Turn over to Hebrews and
the 10th chapter. Now when I read this this week
and the thought came to my mind as to what might be said concerning
that text, It was simply this, the gospel is a top to bottom
gospel. Thank God in His grace that He
has given us a top to bottom gospel. So when you come to Hebrews
chapter 10, we find the Spirit of God who in all the book of
Hebrews is saying that the things that were under that Old Testament
economy, they were things that pictured Christ and his priesthood
and his sacrifice in their superiority. In him we have better things. We have a better covenant than
that old covenant. We have it by better blood that
was shed. We have better promises. And so when he comes to Hebrews
chapter 10, he says in verse 19, having therefore brethren
boldness to enter into the holiest. There is no more veil. God is
no longer shut off from every man. There is, he says, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the
veil. That is to say, his flesh. You see, when the apostle writes
here, he is not talking about an entrance into a place here
on earth. There are no holy places here
in this world. And that holy place was symbolic
of the holy presence of God. So that he tells us, he speaks
here of The way to God. The way to God. And you know,
He doesn't say get up on some high mountain. He does not say
that we will gain interest by our meditating on the things
of God or anything else. It has nothing to do with our
feeling. It has nothing to do with our
experience in itself. It has to do with what the priest
did, and he opened the way to God. The Lord Jesus Christ and
Him crucified is the only direct, or indirect, or whatever you
might say, access to God. The only way. And if you remember,
this all has to do with what happened in the garden. Because
when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, Adam and Eve were then
cast out of the garden. But what so many people don't
realize is the fact that Adam was not a man in himself alone. He was a representative man who
represented all his race. And so when Adam and Eve were
cast out by the way, they didn't just walk out, but God cast them
out of the garden because sin cannot be in the holy presence
of God. And when God cast Adam and Eve
out of the garden, He cast all of Adam's race out of the garden.
He cast you, He cast me, He cast every one of us because it says
that all of us sinned in Him and we're cast out. And the Bible
says that God put flaming swords. Blaming swords there at the entrance
to the garden. Swords that turned every way
to prevent man from going back into that garden. Now the sinner
he is, turning every way, stopping every way of access. God say,
There's no other way. Except the way that I'm going
to provide. There's no other way. And we as sinners, when
we hear the gospel, when we hear the truth of God, our first reaction
to that is simply, there's got to be some other way. And there
are always the deception around us whereby men and women are
constantly offering us all these ways. A way of meditation, a
way of self-sacrifice, a way of this and a way of that. God
turned that sword every way. Flaming burns say there is no
other way. You're not going to come sneaking
into heaven. You're not coming slipping in
the side door of God's presence. You're not going to live in this
life and accomplish anything as a sinner. The scripture says
that this literally means here in Hebrews 10, a new made way. A new made way. But Satan who
is the archenemy of God, who is the archenemy of his Christ,
who is the archenemy of his people, and who is the archenemy of your
soul and my soul. He seeks to deceive. He raises
up all these ways. He's like that, he's like that
quiz program that was on TV which had all these gifts and prizes
and yet had some booby prizes too. You had to choose the right
door. What's behind door number one
or door number two? And it's kind of like a gamble. We'll just pick a door and hope
That's the way we get into glory. God says no. As a matter of fact,
Christ said, I am the door. I am the door. And Satan sets
forth so many counterfeits because he does not want us to know this
way. He does not want us to see this
way. He does not want us to enter
this way. So he has his counterfeit doors. He has his counterfeit ways. He has all the ways of a multitude
of his false religions who offer these various ways and they are
all appealing to our flesh. Why? Because there is a way that
seems right to a man. Seems right, logically right,
physically right, emotionally right, appealing easier than
this one way. But the ways thereof are the
ways of death. You see, they're really just
one way. And that one way is a denial
of Him who is the way. Oh, it may be expressed. Some
might be transcendental meditationists, and some may be holy rollers,
and some may be this, that, and the other. But they're all ways
that are simply the way. The way of Cain. The way of every
sinner since Adam. The way of every one of us naturally
apart from the grace of God. Ways, different ways. Everybody's
got an opinion. Everybody's got a way. But it
still remains that this is the way. Because Christ said, I am
the way, the truth, and the life. Just one way. And all these ways,
all these various ways of access to God, favor with God, blessing
from God, every one of them, as they are presented by false
religion, are likened in Scripture to the offerings of a prostitute
on the street. So appealing, so alluring, so
enticing, so naturally, naturally beautiful. But when the writer
of Proverbs gives us that description of that prostitute who she's
pictured as alluring, the simple, stupid individual, she talks
about having the bed ready, having her everything perfumed and sweet
and smelling and easy and everything like that. But then it says,
her house, her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers
of death. When you find that same description
in the revelation of Mystery Babylon, the harlot, She and
all her own in that way meet the judgment of God. And these
are ways of work. These are ways of will. These
are ways of man's worthiness. These are the ways whereby you're
told to do this. Ways, on the other hand, you're
told to stop doing the other thing. All a variety. They're the ways of death. And
some of them are very clever counterfeits. Let me read you
something, a quote. And this man says this, he said
this in an interview, whether they come from the Muslim world
or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing
world. They are members of the body
of Christ. They may not even know the name
of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something
that they don't have, and they turn to the only light they have. And I think that they're saved
and that they're going to be with us in heaven. Now, who said
that? Did Jim Jones say that? Did Adolf
Hitler say that? Billy Graham said that. That's
right. And he called, first of all, he called what they believe
Light? That's light? The Bible says
that's darkness. It's not what I think or what
you think, it's what God says. He says that's darkness. And
rather than saying that all these are ways to God, which He said
not only then but oftentimes, Christ said, I am the way. He's
the only way because he's the only one that can satisfy God
and he's the only one that can meet the needs of a sinner. Christ,
he says, is the way. That's singular. That is absolutely
singular. And this is exactly how Christ
expressed it in Matthew 7. He said, Enter ye in at the straight
gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. because
straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leads unto life
and few there be that find it." And you know what his next statement
was? Beware of false prophets which
come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. Straight is the gate. Narrow
is the way. Does that mean you and I have
to walk, as they say, the straight and narrow? If that was the way
to God, there's not one sinner that would ever enter into His
presence. That simply means that this narrow
way is narrow in this sense. It's only Christ. It's only one
door. There's only one way. And you
know what the Bible describes that way as? The way of righteousness. You read the book of Proverbs.
You read, go back in the Psalms. It's the way of righteousness.
The way that God can be righteous. The way that we can be made righteous
ourselves. He calls it the way of truth.
Paul called it the way that men speak evil of. But it's a way
that's naturally offensive to men and women because it's the
way of the cross. Tell them that they can enter
God's presence and have His favor, if they'll give a lot, it would
surprise you what people would give. They have give. They give
these characters like Osteen and Hen and others, they give
them millions. Or tell them that if they go
up on a mountain somewhere and do something, or tell them if
they'll stop drinking this, or stop eating this, or stop smoking
this, or one thing after the other. anything but the cross. But when was that veil rent entwined? When Christ died on the cross. And God didn't leave it for you
and me to decide the way. He didn't leave it to you and
I to pick from 57 different varieties. In that last symbolic picture,
in the end of that mosaic economy, At the coming of His Christ,
of His only begotten Son, in order to die the death of the
cross, He tore it in half. Now if you take a curtain, and
it's hanging over an entrance, and you take a knife, and you
start at the top, and you cut all the way down that curtain,
what's it going to do? Both halves are going to fall
to the side and whatever's behind that door, whatever that gives
access to, that's what you have. Paul said, for the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. This business
of a crucified Christ, of a sacrifice of blood, of the laying down
of a life in order to gain the favor of God and deal with our
sin. That's foolishness to those who
are perishing. But he said, but to those that
are being saved, it is the power of God. You see, what is taking
place in that text in Matthew 27, is that Jesus Christ, not
just any man, not a man long before that, not a man since
that, one man, Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is
dying on this cross. And his death is the death of
a perfect man for sin, which is the only way. I've told you
this so many times, that God in his glorious being has and
could and can do everything, create a world, do everything
for us from heaven except for the one thing we need most. We
need a substitute. We need somebody who not only
can die in our place, but we need somebody who is God in human
flesh to add to that death and that sacrifice such a glorious
worth to not only save us, but to save all of his elect. We
have to have somebody who can satisfy God's justice. We have
to have somebody who's acceptable to both man and God. Since we
fell as men and women in Adam, we have to be raised in that
last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he's dying on this cross.
And the judgment against the sins of those he's dying for
is taking place. Even that's being symbolized.
It says there was an earthquake. And it was such an earthquake
that it says the rocks were rent. That means that the rocks were
broken. That's always a symbol of judgment.
And so God's judgment against the sins of all those who Christ
is dying for, all of His sheep, all believers, has fallen on
Him. It evidently means, since that
veil was rent in twain, it evidently means that the end of that law,
the end of that mosaic economy has taken place too. And it not
only means that, but it means also that that partition that
long had been between Jew and Gentile, that that partition,
that middle wall of partition Paul talks about in Ephesians,
that now has been broken down so that God's people from among
the Jews and the Gentiles, they both have access to God One way. That's Christ. And that's Christ
crucified. And now full entrance into God's
presence, full acceptance by God, full communion with God
takes place because the separating sin have been put away. They've
been made an end to. And we know that. We know it
for a lot of reasons, one of which is the fact that he says
so. But also, for this reason, the separating veil is gone.
The separating veil is torn from top to bottom. In other words,
that separation has been done away with because of something
God did. The soldiers didn't do this,
certainly those Jewish priests wouldn't have done it. Pharisees
wouldn't have done it. Scribes wouldn't have done it.
Sadducees wouldn't have done it. But it says from top to bottom. And he didn't just tear a hole
in it, but he tore it from top to bottom. And that simply means
that all of salvation, all of the work necessary to restore
the favor of God to His people, to restore our access and acceptance
by God, it began and was entirely accomplished by God. He didn't
even leave you or me one thread to cut. Sometimes salvation is
presented to men and women as a conditional salvation, even
making faith a condition, when in truth It is, like Christ said,
finished. But they present salvation like
this. We're here for a ribbon cutting. We're here for a grand opening. And everything is ready, and
everything is prepared, and everything is open. All you have to do is
take your little scissors of free will, or decision, or whatever
it is, and just cut the ribbon, and you'll have access to God.
He didn't leave you and me not one thread. We don't have any
scissors that would cut that veil anyway. He opened it. We
have access. We have full entrance into God's
presence. We have access to His throne. We have access in Christ. It begins top to bottom. In all that is done, it begins
with God. Everything He does, He does justly. And we do not open it from the
bottom by something that we do. Finished. You say, well, I have
a problem understanding about the finished work of Christ.
Can you view a curtain torn in half and the access opened? Before you and I were ever born,
before you and I ever believed, without any help from us, without
any dependence on us, without even consulting us, God opened
that way. Because He was there hanging
on that cross and shedding His blood, honoring Himself, satisfying
His law and justice, because He alone determines how He saves. And He saves by grace. There
are a lot of people, Paul said they have a yea and nay gospel. Yea about this, nay about that.
Yea one thing, nay the other. Christ did it all, yes, but Man
has to do something. We've also got a top-to-bottom
gospel. God began it, God finished it,
and God did everything all the way. He opened the way entirely. He did the work by Himself in
His perfect sinless flesh. He did the work Himself with
Himself as the one sacrifice for sin. So in Hebrews 10 in
verse 9, we read this, that one that was before the
creation of this earth. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, the will of God, by the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, he sat down on the right hand
of God. And you see, just as Adam was
a representative man, in whom we came out of God's presence. Christ the last Adam is that
representative man in whom we go into God's presence and we
sit down in him never to leave again. Seated in the heavenly. in Christ Jesus. From henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool for by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He did it. top to bottom. He did it as this representative
man. And so now as those who are clean,
as those who are justified, as those who are made righteous,
as those who are accepted in the beloved, we enter in. This is our only hope. This same
apostle describes our hope as being a hope that entereth in
within the veil. And we come into the holiest
of all. That's where we come. Isn't that
what it says in verse 19? We enter into the holiest. Where is the holiest? The holiest
is God's presence. Without any man-made appointments,
without any man-made mediator, without any earthly priest, without
any man's rule or man-made ways, we just enter into the holiest.
How are we to come there? We come boldly. We're not sneaking
in the back door. That means we come without fear
and we come without reservation. We come at the command. Come,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, come unto me, and I'll
give you rest. On what ground do we come? By
His blood, that is, through His death for sin, the veil which
is His flesh. And so what do we do when we've
come? We keep on coming. Peter said,
to whom coming? We come to the same one and we
come the same way in Christ and Him crucified. And so the apostle
tells us this in chapter 4, that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For
we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly
unto the throne of grace. You couldn't even make it across
the White House fence this morning. You couldn't make it into the
presence of most all of these so-called celebrities. God's
people go directly. to the throne and in Christ crucified
they find it a throne of grace. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. I don't know about you but I
have a lot of needs it seems like. I don't know about you
but I need a lot of help. I'm needing a lot of help these
days and there's only one place to find it at the throne of grace. full access to God in Christ,
full acceptance, full and free forgiveness because of His finished
work and because of His perfect sacrifice for sins once. And this is exactly what Peter
says concerning the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, He suffered the just
for the unjust that He might bring us to God. That's what
he did. Everyone in him, he brought us
to God. Seated in him, in his throne,
that veil from top to bottom was rent in twain. 1611 King James English, torn
in two. and the way into the holiest
made, and all of God's people entered in with Christ. I like
the top-to-bottom gospel, the finished work of Him who is Alpha
and Omega. the author and the finisher of
things. I like a work that's done, a
work that's accepted, a work in one that God will always,
as he has always accepted, his darling son. I know I've told
you this before, but I heard a story once about a football
player who was having a lot of problems with grades and things
going on at home and money and just all of it just got him so
bad. He played for a college team
and so he was sitting on the doorstep of a big college building
one day and his little boy, not his, but a little boy walked
up to him and asked him what his problem was. He said, oh,
it's nothing, nothing you could help me with. Oh, what is it?
What's your problem? Well, I've got this situation
at home and this money situation and all these things, and I need
to see the coach, but he's busy, he's in a meeting, and I cannot
get in past his secretary to see him. The little boy said,
I'll get you in. He said, son, he said, just leave
me alone. I got problems. No, I can get
you in. He said, come on. He took him
by the hand. He led him. He walked in that office. He walked right
past that secretary. And he turned the handle on that
door and threw it open. And he said, Dad, this boy needs
to talk to you. God will always give access to
his people through his son. But that's the only way. Father,
we thank you for your perfect good news and gospel to sinners
like we are. Salvation in one outside of ourselves. Salvation accomplished through
his cross death. Hope in him who is himself the
way. We pray in his name. Amen.