Yonder amazing sight I see, the incarnate Son of God expiring from the accursed tree and welcome in his blood. Behold the purple torrent ran down from his hands and head. The crimson tide puts out the sun. His groves await the day. The trembling earth, the darkened sky, proclaim the truth aloud. And with the amazed centurion cry, this is the Son of God.

Come with me, if you will, once more to Golgotha's Dark Bride. I want us today to observe those things which the centurion observed on that day of man's infamy, the day of God's glory, when the Son of God was made to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. When the Son of God suffered the wrath of God, that we who are the enemies of God might forever enjoy the grace of God.

Look with me in Mark chapter 13, or chapter 15, rather, and verse 39. When the centurion which stood over against him saw that he so cried and gave up the goat, he said, truly, this man was the Son of God.

Now this centurion being convinced that Jesus Christ was both a righteous man and that he is the Son of God is recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and all three of them state it with clarity. I want to know what convinced him. What is it that calls this crusty Roman soldier, this centurion, probably a man of considerable age and experience. A man whose business all his life had been the slaughter of other men. A man who now had the charge and responsibility of being the executioner of the most barbaric form of death the world has ever known.

This centurion had seen many men die at his hands. He had tasted the blood of many, and they never moved him. Now, however, he stands before the Son of God. He's been watching him for three hours, and he is covered with the blood of the incarnate God. And somehow, something that he saw, something he heard, something he observed, laid heavily upon him and constrained him, convincing him that this man is the Son of God.

We are told in the Scriptures Dear God, exceeding, dear God, I can imagine. Here he is with the Son of God hanging upon the tree and he's the one who nailed it there and he says, this man is the Son of God.

Now as we look at what he saw, I pray that God the Holy Spirit will likewise convince you that this man is the Son of God. Not only that he will convince you that this man is the son of God causing you to fear and quake. Oh may he convince you now of your sin, of the accomplishment of righteousness by the sacrifice of this man who is himself God and of the judgment of sin in him.

We will look at seven things, look at them very briefly. Six of them certainly the centurion saw, probably the seventh one as well.

Here in Mark chapter 15 in verse 33, we see that the sun was turned into darkness for three hours. When the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. Luke tells us that the sun was dark. Now some argue as to whether or not this darkness covered the whole earth, or whether it just covered the land of Judea, it really doesn't matter. But there's certainly indication that this darkness was far more far-reaching than just the land of Judea. I recognize that ungodly men, in the name of religious intellectualism, in the name of religious superiority, are forever trying to explain away the miraculous and the supernatural in Holy Scripture. They tell us that this darkening of the sun was something that really didn't happen at all. It was just an exaggeration on the part of these disciples who were telling the story so as to give greater emphasis to the story, or at best to give some moral teaching or spiritual teaching from the story. Others will tell us that this darkness is just something that really did not happen, period, and the disciples were just wrong about this.

The fact is that this darkness did happen. It was not just an ordinary solar eclipse. It was not just something that took place that can be explained away. All the notions that men have are just cows that won't fly. The scriptures are very plain. The sun was turned into darkness. The report was given by divine inspiration. That enough is enough to convince any honest believing man that what is recorded here is true.

Not only was it written by divine inspiration, it was written by honest men who had nothing to gain from telling a lie. These reports were given by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and they were given with explicit clarity for the express purpose of declaring to us what happened.

The darkening of the sun was something that took place at a time of full moon. It was the time of the Jews Passover. It always took place at the full moon. So it could not possibly have been an ordinary solar eclipse, but rather it was something that was extraordinary, something that happened by a miraculous intervention, by God's intervention. At midday, at high noon, suddenly God darkened the sun, and the sun refused to give its light.

This is recorded and reported not only in the Gospel, But it is recorded and reported by the historians and chronologists in ancient Roman times as well. In fact, there was one Dionysius who saw this great darkness over the earth while he was in Egypt. And this is what he wrote. He said, either the divine being, best notion he had of God, either the divine being suffers or the divine being suffers with him that suffers. or the frame of the world is dissolved.

This noonday darkness was predicted by the prophet Amos. Turn back to Amos chapter 8. It'll do you good to go home and read this whole chapter. It speaks of so much in so many different periods of time. But here in Amos chapter 8 in verse 9, it is clear that this darkness of the sun was given and predicted by the prophet Amos as an indication of God's judgment upon the nation of Israel for their despising of his word, of his prophet, and the rejecting of his gospel.

Here in Amos chapter 8 and verse 9. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. Now that prophecy is about as plain as you can get.

Without question then, these three hours of darkness which engulfed the earth from 12 o'clock noon until three o'clock in the afternoon were intended by God to be specific, specific messengers to teach us specific lessons. At the very surface, there are a few things that are obvious. These three hours darkness are intended to display in the most convincing manner possible God's abhorrence of sin. when the Lord God made his son to be sin for us. As God forsook his son, turned his back upon his son, and he darkened the earth so that the son refused to give her light. At midday, he calls the son to go down in darkness. He says to the world, I am holy and I will not tolerate sin. We have no comprehension of it. We become more and more Hard to see it every day every day. We I Can't believe myself Much less the world around me But we we see things and we see them and we see them and we see them and we see them after a while They just be commonplace. They should be ordinary and it becomes it becomes to us nothing

my dear friends If you could fathom for a moment That when God Almighty made his son to be saved He drew out his sword of justice and killed him. Sin would be a terror to your soul. God abhors sin. God will punish sin. There's just no question about it.

This darkness also represented the blindness and the darkness of divine judgment, which was now given upon the nation of Israel by the hand of God. You see, when God takes away the light, E flat takes away. You wonder why this generation in which we live can't see? You wonder why you talk to them, you reason with them, you show them things in scripture, and it just flies right through their ears, never even slows down on the way out. You wonder why? Because when God sends darkness, Merle, God sends darkness. God has sent darkness over the nation of Israel. Because they despised his word and God is it darkness over the land in these days because men have despised his word They would not walk in the light. So God takes away the light

There's an even more Home application that and what I've said thus far some of you sitting here hear the word of God, and you just push it aside, push it aside, push it aside, push it aside. You profess to have the light, and you just keep pushing it aside. Ignore it, ignore what God says, ignore what God reveals, ignore what God teaches. I warn you, if God takes away the light, you will spend eternity in darkness, in darkness.

These three hours of darkness engulfing the earth, certainly signify the darkness that engulfed our Savior's soul when he endured the wrath of God for us. Oh, what darkness was upon him. When he who is the light of the world cries out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The dark, dark wrath of the Almighty was upon him because he was made to be sin for us.

All right, look at verse 38 here in Mark 15. Not only did the sun turn to darkness by the hand of God, but the veil in the temple. Now, try to picture this. The veil in the temple. Now, that's not one of these curtains. There's not a thick, thick piece of tapestry. That veil in the temple was a thick, thick veil. It was knotted together as much as 82 knots in depth. It was 60 feet high. 60 feet, 40 cubits, 60 feet high. That veil in the temple was ripped in two by the hand of God Almighty.

Look here, Mark 15, 38. And the veil of the temple was ripped in twain from the top to the bottom. All three records tell us plainly the veil was ripped from the top to the bottom. Lest anyone should say, well, you know, that veil had been around a long time. Boy, they'd been using that thing for hundreds and hundreds of years, and now it was just worn out. So it gradually just ripped up. No, it was ripped from the top to the bottom, split in two by God's hand. This thick, thick veil. was ripped into specifically at the time of the offering of the Jews' sacrifices, their evening sacrifice and the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. You read about it if you are following your scripture reading this week in Leviticus chapter 16. No one was allowed to go behind that veil. that veil which separated the holy place from the most holy place, that veil which kept in seclusion the holy of holies where God said he would meet with men upon the mercy seat, overshadowing the ark of the covenant, covering the broken law that the children of Israel had broken. There, no man could go except the high priest. And he could go only once a year. And he could enter in behind that thick veil once a year only with the blood of that Paschal Lamb which God had appointed. He dared not go otherwise.

Now can you imagine? Can you imagine? I tried to put myself in that old boy's shoes. Here's this high priest. He doesn't have anything left except ceremony and pretense and faith, but he's convinced it's real. Here's this high priest, he's going about his daily business. Perhaps he has just offered the evening sacrifice. The time has come for the offering of the Paschal Lamb. And he's not even present now, while the Lord Jesus is hanging on the tree. He's left the scene, and he's going about his business. And suddenly, the veil splits in half. I bet he ran out of that place. Like he had seen some kind of a horror movie. I mean, he will go. He knew nobody goes in there except with God's sacrifice. What he didn't know is that there was a high priest who had gone in there now with God's sacrifice.

This man with his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, rent the veil in two. That veil represented His flesh, according to Hebrews chapter 9. That veil represented the dissolving of His flesh under the wrath of God, the sacrifice of His body. When the veil was rent in two, the sacrifice was made. And that veil represented the law. the law which separated God from man. Throughout the days of humanity, throughout the days of the Old Testament, men could not come to God except in a ceremonial way through a representative priest with blood atonement. They could not come any other way. And so there, once a year, the high priest sprinkled blood to make atonement. Then he came out and ceremonially blessed the people.

But now, the veil's ripped in two. Blessed be God. This is what that means. That means all the Mosaic law, all its commandments, all its ordinances, all its ceremonies, all its types, all its shadows, all are forever abrogated and absorbed because Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Why don't we have altars today? Because Christ is our altar. Why don't we kneel down at some altar and have a little religious ceremony and have some religious sentiment and some show? Because Christ is our altar. Why don't we go to a priest to confess our sin? We do, but he's in glory. He's not down here. Why don't we offer sacrifices today? Because Christ, our Passover, sacrificed for us. It's all done. Now to try to re-establish legal commands to try to reestablish legal worship, to try to reestablish altars and a priesthood and all these ceremonies of the Old Testament is to deny that Christ has accomplished what he came here to do.

The vending of that faith says God has opened a way, a way into the holiest of all, by which sinners may draw nigh to God with full assurance of faith. Isn't that amazing? Turn over there, Hebrews chapter 10. Let me show you this passage. Hebrews chapter 10. The rent bail means that God himself has opened the way for sinners to come to him. And that way is the blood.

Hebrews 10 verse 12. This man, this man, the Lord Jesus, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. He went into the Holy of Holies and sat down. But there wasn't any place in that Holy of Holies for a priest to sit down. That's not the one we're talking about. He went into glory and sat down on the throne of God represented in that mercy seat. He went there and sat down on the throne of grace.

Why was there no seat in the Holy of Holies for the priest? Because he could never finish his work. His work was never done. As soon as he got done offering a sacrifice, he had to go get ready to offer another one. But this man, this high priest, this man who is God, offers himself a sacrifice to God and his sacrifice finishes the work forever.

Look at it now. From henceforth expect until his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever. What does that mean? It means just exactly what it says. It means that Jesus Christ, by his effectual blood atonement, has made perfect every sinner chosen by God, separated from the human race by God's eternal election, perfected us so that we are now accepted of God through the merit of his blood. Perfected forever, them that are set apart.

Verse 15, wherefore the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord God. I'll put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them. I want to make them new creatures. I want to give them a new heart, new way, new will. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. How come? because of this blood atonement.

Now, where remission of these is, look at it, there is no more offering for sin. What did we sing a little bit ago, Lindsay? Jesus paid it all. He paid it all. Well, but you know, you got something to pay. No, not if he paid it all. But you're going to have some debt you incur after he paid it all. No, he paid it all forever. That means probably God never requires anything from us. Nothing, nothing. Jesus paid it all. All the debt I owe, sin had left the crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

All right, read on, verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness. That doesn't mean cockiness, that doesn't mean arrogance, but it means confidence, confidence. boldness to enter into the holiness by the blood of Jesus.

That high priest every year in Israel, I'm going to guarantee you that old boy examined that Paschal lamb those 14 days it was supposed to be shut up. I'm going to guarantee you he examined him from hoof to tail to nose every day those 14 days to make sure that lamb met the requirements that God set before them in his holy law. Because if he didn't, he was a dead man. He was a dead man. And even after examining that lamb for 14 days, day and night, all day long through the day, check that lamb out. I'll guarantee you as he crept in behind that veil, he walked in there just as slow, because he's not ever sure it's just right.

Here we are, we come to God Almighty, and we walk before him with confidence, with boldness. How come? Because Bob, I am dead sure this is just right. This lamb is the lamb God provided, and this lamb is himself God. Therefore, God will accept anybody who comes to him bringing the blood of this lamb. Read on, look what it says. Having boldness to enter in to the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he had consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, through the sacrifice of his flesh. Having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

All right, now look at Matthew 27 for a moment. Your Bible is open in Matthew 27. Let me show you a few other things. In verse 51, we read that the earth quaked. And behold, the veil of the temple was ripped in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake.

Now again, both the prophet Amos and the psalmist David tell us that this earthquake was a token of God's anger. and God's wrath and God's judgment upon the nation of Israel because of their evil works. Listen to this in Psalm 18, verse 7. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken because he was lost.

This earthquake is a symbol of the shaking of the Jewish nation to its very foundation, the shaking of Jewish religion to its very foundation, so that those things which are shaken and can be removed are taken out of the way. so that those things which cannot be shaken and cannot be removed remain forever. Now this is what Paul means by that statement in Hebrews chapter 12. When they're talking about the shaking of the earth and the quaking of the earth, he's telling us that all of the Old Testament symbolism all the Old Testament ritualism, all the Old Testament types, all the Old Testament laws, all the Old Testament shadows, all those things of physical worship in the Old Testament, which pointed to Christ and spiritual worship in this day. All those physical things are destroyed forever.

Now, that which cannot be shaken, Jesus Christ, in faith that He is, stands firm. The earth quakes. because of God's judgment now upon that nation and upon that empty religion of Judaism. And look at verse 51 again in Matthew 27. And the rocks, the rending of these rocks seems to indicate two things. First, it represents the terrible fury of God's holy wrath. This is how Nahum describes it. The mountains quake at him, the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence. Yea, the world and all that dwell therein, who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

What warnings God gives me Here is a special, miraculous warning. God warns us of judgment to come. But listen carefully, my friends. The sound of the thunder is the voice of the almighty. When God sends a tornado, he says, fellows, pay attention. I have my way in the whirlwind. And this is nothing compared to the whirlwind in my wrath. When God sends a tidal wave, God says, this is nothing compared to the flood of my healing that awaits you. When God sends an earthquake and the earth breaks up, God says, one of these days, everything here shall be broken up at the very foundation. God Almighty sends warning after warning after warning

after warning. Sometimes people get so wrapped up in trying to get things theologically straight. I had a letter from You ladies forgive me, but I, now don't forgive me if there's a way you need for me to forgive you. I get letters from ladies who are imaginary theologians, you know. They think they've got it all figured out. This gal, she was trying to, she wrote the other day, and I know she was sincere as she could be, but she said, my son said he's afraid of going to hell, and I know that's not a right reason for coming to Christ. And I wrote back, I said, well, it's not the best reason, but it's a pretty good one. It's a pretty good one.

My soul, I'm terrified of God's wrath if I was outside Christ. And if you're outside Christ, you have reason to be terrified of God's wrath. The fires of hell are upon you. The judgment of God is upon you. And one reason to flee to Christ is to flee away that you may find refuge in Him who is a man crucified for sinners.

But there is also here a picture of the conversion of God's elect. by the preaching of the gospel. You see, as a result of Christ's death, when the gospel is preached, hard-hearted sinners, centered with hearts of stone, are broken by the power of God. You remember what happened in Acts chapter 2? Just a few days after this, when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, there were 3,000 who were pricked in their heart by the word and cried, Sirs, what must we do?

Now look at Matthew 27 and 52. And the graves were open. The earthquakes, the rocks ran. The graves were open. Just split open. I like what John Gill said about this. He said, this was proof of Christ's power over death and the grave. By dying, he through death destroyed him that had power of it. And he abolished death itself. He became the plague of death and the destruction of the grave. and he took in his hands the keys of death and of hell. He's the victor even over death, the conqueror of the grave.

Now then, look at the next line, verse 52. And the bodies of the saints which slept arose, many of the bodies of the saints which slept arose, not all but many, and came out of the grave after the resurrection, after Christ's resurrection, and went into the holy city and appeared There was a miraculous resurrection of many of God's saints. This too was predicted in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 26, 19, the scripture says, thy dead men shall live together with my dead body, shall they arise awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dues as the dew of herbs in the earth shall cast out the dead.

This resurrection of those saints was by virtue of Christ's resurrection from the grave. You'll notice that it is recorded here, but it was written that they came out of the grave after the Lord's resurrection. Why is it recorded here then? Because now is the time when the basis of the resurrection is done. Jesus Christ was now crucified and by virtue of his death, he arose from the grave. arose because the grave had no more power over him. He was put in the tomb, and they put a rock over the tomb, and they sealed it. But on the third day, God came down and rolled away the rock, sent his angels to take it away, and Christ came out of the grave. And when he did, many of the saints arose with him, arose with him as pledge of our resurrection by him as well. They arose, however, with his dead body because he must be the firstfruits of the resurrection.

Now then, turn over to Luke chapter 23. Let me show you a miracle of mercy. This too, the centurion saw. Verse 23, this thief who also had reviled, He said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.

This man was a thief, common thief. This man was a blasphemer. If you read Matthew's account again, you'll remember that this thief also reviled the Lord Jesus. While he's hanging on the tree, he mocked him. But now, suddenly, something happened. I'll tell you what happened. God conquered him by his grace. And this thief was now made to cry out for mercy, believing on that crucified Son of God. And I bid you believe on the Son of God. Call on God for mercy in Jesus Christ the Lord. And God will have mercy on you as well right now. Christ will take you with him to paradise when time shall be no more. Amen.