1551 of Matthew 27. Jesus, when he
had cried 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. The veil was rent. Go with me
to Exodus chapter 26. We have a description of that
veil in the temple. Few people know about this veil
or even care. I hope we will see today how
blessed we are to know what this means and what it means to us. When Jesus Christ the Lord died,
The veil, this veil described here in the temple was rent from
the top to the bottom. Look at verse 31 through 33. And thou shalt make a veil of
blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen of cunning
work with cherubims embroidered all over it, shall it be made.
And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of chitim wood, overlaid
with gold. And their hooks shall be of gold
upon the four sockets of silver. And thou shalt hang up the veil
under the tatches that thou mayest bring in hither within the veil,
the ark of the testimony. And the veil shall divide unto
you, separate you between the holy place and the most holy
flame. This veil of the temple was most
believe around 6 inches thick and the tabernacle inside was
about 15 feet tall. So this veil was huge and it
was very heavy. And it was made of blue and purple
and scarlet cloth with linen And so it was a masterpiece of
design and embroidered work with cherubims on it, very heavy,
very thick, and very tall. And it was a divider, a curtain,
a veil between the common court or holy place from the holy of
holies where the Ark of the Covenant was, where the mercy seat Well,
we'll look at that in a minute. This makes me want to go back
over the tabernacle again. But the prophet, it says it was
made of blue, purple, and scarlet. This is our Christ, our prophet,
our priest, our king. This is his deity. This is his
royalty. This is his humanity, the blood. Embroidered with cherubim, Scripture
says, of which things the angels desire to look into and so do
we if we're blessed. And this veil when Christ died
on the cross, this veil in the temple that separated the place
where the common priest were from where only the high priest
could go with the blood upon the mercy seat, this veil of
the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, not from the
bottom to the top as if some man did it. but as if some giant
hand, and this is exactly what did happen. The very same one
who with his finger, with his hand wrote the law, this law,
rent this veil and took when Christ died on the cross. Do
you know what this means? This is the gospel. This is the
gospel. This is more than just an amazing
phenomenon or interesting occurrence. the Gospel. This is why and how
we can come to God. This is why and how sinners can
come into the presence of the Holy God. Jesus, first go back
to our text now, in Matthew 27. In verse 50 it says, Jesus, when
He cried with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost, and this veil was
rent. Jesus. His name was Jesus. The angel said to Mary, call
his name Jesus. Why? Because he said he shall
save his people from their sin. He shall. He won't try to. He
shall save his people from their sin by a great salvation. Now
let me just dwell here a little bit. It's another Jesus. It's a false Jesus and a false
gospel that says he tried to save. and can't save unless you
cooperate, unless you agree with Him. That's not the Jesus Christ
of Scripture. Any man who preaches such a one,
preaches another Jesus and another gospel. Anyone who confesses
such a Jesus, confesses the wrong Jesus, does not know Him. This Jesus, Scripture says in
Isaiah 53, died for His people. This Jesus laid down His life
for His sheep. He said so. He didn't lay it
down for goats. This Jesus saved His people from
their sins completely, by Himself, without anyone's cooperation,
without anyone's help, by Himself. We cannot emphasize this enough.
We cannot declare it loudly enough or often enough. In a day when
men and women are taking Him down from His glory, when they're
preaching lies, we cannot raise our voice loud enough. Say this
with a voice to raise the dead, because this is exactly what
happened when He died on that cross. The dead arose and went
into the city. This is His glory and this is
our salvation, that when Jesus Christ died on that cross, He
paid for the sins of His people. He put away their sins by the
sacrifice of Himself. All the prophecies tell that
He would do so. Isaiah 42 says, He shall not
fail. He won't even be discouraged.
He'll be satisfied. He shall save His people, and
that's what He did. In His prayer before He went
to the cross, in His prayer in the garden, He said to the Father,
I finished the work that You gave Me to do. And in hanging
on that cross, He cried with a loud voice, It is finished. We've heard this before. But
I delight to tell it again. And I hope you do too, to hear
it again. But it's the worst blasphemy. And it's another Gospel that
says He's done all He can do and now it's up to you. That
He died for you and now accept Him, let Him be your Lord. That's
another Gospel. Many of you believe such a Gospel.
And we're lost. But when you heard the truth,
the truth as it is in Jesus, the true Jesus, the true Lord
Jesus. Then you knew. Then you bowed. Then you confessed the right
one. And Scripture says in Romans 14, to this end Christ both died
and rose and revived that He might be Lord of the dead and
the living. And we don't make Him so. God
did. But verse 50 says that when He
had cried with a loud voice, that He cried, It is finished.
Everything that that temple stood for, everything that that veil
meant, everything that that Ark of the Covenant meant, those
are all shadows. The Son is here. No more shadows. The Son, the substance is here.
And when He arises, He will dispel our darkness. When we see the
Son arisen, lifted up, it will dispel our darkness concerning
these things. It will enlighten us. And he
cried, it is finished, and it says he yielded up the ghost. Verse 50. He yielded up. He laid
down his life. He gave up the ghost. He submitted
his spirit and his soul to the Father. He's the one that offered
himself to the Father. Not to man, but to God. As a
sweet-smelling savor to God. And God accepted the sacrifice
on our behalf. We don't accept anything. We
receive it. It's applied to us. Our Lord
yielded up the ghost. No mere man has ever done that.
No human being has ever yielded up the ghost. Our ghost is taken
from us. Our souls are taken from us at
the time when God says that. But Christ yielded up the ghost.
He gave up the ghost. This is further proof, undeniable
proof of who He is. And he said, it is finished.
The eternal counsel, the purpose of God, the covenant of God,
ordered in all things and sure, the law which the prophets wrote,
the will and the testament of God was ratified in the blood
of Christ. It was sealed in the blood of
Christ. Righteousness was accomplished. And eternal righteousness was
brought in for His people. The law was fulfilled. Justice
was satisfied. God's people were saved. And it just remains for them
to come by the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is in the hands
of man. It was all in the hands of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And He finished the work. God was glorified. Sin is atoned
for and paid for. And the first covenant of works
of the law, which no man is justified by. It's plain to say. The first
covenant of works. By the works of the law, no flesh
can be justified, was taken away. The handwriting of ordinances
against us, all of these things that were demanded of us were
taken away by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one that wrote
it. And He took it away and the second was established. What
is that? That every one of His people are saved by grace through
the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, through the blood that
He shed. 100% saved by the blood and the righteousness of Jesus
Christ, imputed to and charged to them. He did it all. Christ
is all. Do you hear me? Somebody say
so. Go to Hebrews 9. Let the redeemed
of the Lord say so. This is our salvation. Oh my! Let us never grow weary of hearing
these things. We're going to sing for eternity
unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.
And if we don't rejoice in that now, we won't be there to sing
it then. But Hebrews 9, this veil, it says, Behold, the veil
of the temple was rent. What's the significance there?
It has eternal significance, saving significance. It is our
salvation. The veil was rent. More than
just an amazing and miraculous thing, this is our salvation. Hebrews 9, oh my, so much to
look at and not enough time. Verse 1, there's barely the covenant,
the first covenant had ordinances, strict observances of the divine
service, a worldly sanctuary or temple made with hands. It
was a tabernacle made. The first wherein was the candlestick,
that is, common holy place, the candlestick, the table and the
showbread where the common priest, there were many, the sons of
Aaron and others designated by God would go in and bring this
bread and light the candles and so forth. Now Christ is all these
things. It's hard for me to just go by
this. He is the light, the candle, the table, the place where we
meet to eat the bread of life. It's called the sanctuary. His
church is. And after the second veil, there
was a veil between this common room and the Holy of Holies,
which is called the holiest of all. That's where only one man
would go. We'll see that. And it had inside
of it only two things, a golden censer where the high priest
would take this I want to preach on this, the sweet-smelling incense
made of all sorts of wonderful spices, burning in the nostrils
of God. And He would take that into,
under the veil, He'd go under that veil, not through it because
it's un-rent, okay? You've got to bow down, you've
got to get on your hands and knees and crawl under there.
One man, everybody can't do that. with this sweet-smelling incense
and this censer inside the Holy of Holy. There's no light in
that. There's no candle in that. You don't need one. The Shekinah
glory of God is in there. The Ark is in there. You go in
there and that will be where that Ark was, the Ark of the
Covenant. And look at verse 4, it says,
the Ark of the Covenant overlaid with gold. The golden inside
was the pot of manna, the bread of life. Aaron, the high priest,
the rod by which he ruled and did all his miracles, it budded,
it brought forth fruit. And the tables of the covenant,
the Word of God, the law, the testimony of God. And over it
the cherubims of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Those big tall
cherubs over the mercy seat, wings would touch in the middle
and two of them were looking down on that ark. Of which Peter
said, these are the things, the gospel that the angels desire
to look into. Are angels listening to this
right now? That's what the Scripture says. The golden pot, the manna of
the angels overshadowing the mercy seat. God said, there's
one place I'll meet you. That's where He'd take that blood
of the Lamb, dare not go in there without the blood of the Lamb,
and pour that blood of that innocent sacrifice over that mercy sea,
and it would cover that ark wherein was the law that the people had
broken. What is that? Not a what, it's a who. It's
all a who. It's all Christ. Christ is all.
And even Paul said, of which things we cannot speak now particularly. Not enough time. Verse 7 says,
Into the second veil went the high priest alone, once a year. He didn't do it every day. Once
a year, not without blood. And he offered this for himself
and the errors of the people, sins of the people. And the Holy
Ghost is signifying, this is what he's saying, that the way
into the holiest of all, That is, the presence of God was not
yet made manifest. As long as that first tabernacle
was standing, it's a figure for the time then present in which
were both gifts and sacrifices, verse 9, that could not make
him that did the service perfect pertaining to the conscience,
down in verse 11. But Christ being come and high priest of
good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not
made with hands, that is to say, not this building, What's that
tabernacle he's talking about? His body. A body hast thou prepared
me. A body. He is the tabernacle,
the temple of God. He, verse 12, says, not by the
blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood entered in once
into the holy place, our great High Priest, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. Now look at chapter 10. Chapter
10 verse 9 says, When Christ said, Lo, I come to do thy will,
O God, he taketh away the first that he might establish the second,
and by the which will we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. He said he's made
us kings and priests unto God. And down in verse 12 says, this
man, he offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on
the right hand of God. Verse 14, by one offering perfected
forever. And down in verse 17, this is
a covenant, there are sins and iniquities, I remember no more.
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering
for sin. There are millions of people the world over letting
a man, so-called priest, offer mass, the blood. Don't need those
fellows. Don't need another sacrifice.
One perfected. And verse 19 says, having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. The holiest, that is the presence
of God. How? By a new and living way
which He hath consecrated for us through the veil. What is
that? His flesh. He said, this is my
body broken for you. If Christ had not been broken,
Christ had not been rinsed, as it were, by that spear, that
Roman spear, and out came out blood and water, sanctification
and justification. It's all in Him. If He hadn't
done that, we can't come to God. We can't come into heaven. It
can't be accepted. But He says now that He's done
that, verse 21, We have 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." How's that?
With what? Good work? No. Bud. Bud. And our bodies washed with pure
water. That's Christ, His Word. So this
veil was rent from the top to bottom telling us, telling all
who who want to come to God, you come by Christ and you have
free access, boldness to enter. You can come in and see what
no man can see by nature. Oh my, rent veil, of which we
could say so much more, but it says we have boldness to enter
in. The gospel is clearly seen in
the veil rent. Only one way to come to God,
Christ and Him crucified. Look at verse, in our text, Matthew
27, verse 51. It says, Behold, the veil of
the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And by the way, Christ, remember,
wore a robe, a seamless robe. You remember that? It was a seamless
robe that he wore. And amazingly, the soldiers,
when they stripped him of his clothing, took that robe and
one of them started to rend it and somebody said, don't do that.
Don't do that. Don't rend that robe. We'll cast
lots. We'll cast lots and see who gets
this complete covering. That is the righteousness of
Christ. And they cast lots because Scripture said they would do
that. And because Christ's righteousness is a perfect righteousness, a
complete righteousness, not a rip, not a tear in it, a complete
covering, which all of His people get. The lot is cast into the
lap. Are you covered with Christ's
righteousness? Well, the lot was cast, but the whole disposal
is over the Lord. You're like that prodigal son
when the father said, bring the best robe. Bring that seamless
robe. Bring the robe of Christ and
put it on Him. Cover Him with it. And He was
covered. Well, it says in verse 51, and
the earth did quake and the rocks rent. The earth did quake and the rocks
did rent. Would you go with me quickly
to Psalm 18? Psalm 18, very quickly, you've
got to see this. We're going to read the whole
psalm in a few minutes, but you'll see why. In Psalm 18, this is
another psalm of the cross, like 22 and 69, the words of Christ. Psalm 18, verse 4, the sorrows
of death encompassed me. The floods of ungodly men made
me afraid. The sorrows of hell encompassed
me about. This is Christ. The snares of
death prevented me. In my distress I called upon
the Lord, cried unto my God. He heard my voice out of His
temple. My cry came before Him even under
His ear. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the hills
were moved, were shaken because He was wroth. Went up a smoke
out of His nostrils and a fire out of His mouth. devoured, and
coals were kindled by it. He bowed to heavens and came
down. Darkness under his feet rode upon a cherub and did fly. When Christ died on that cross,
it says the earth did quake. The whole earth shook. God Almighty
shook the whole planet. And the rocks were rent. God
is saying, as it were, when He rent these rocks, who is a rock?
Saved by our God. Let every other rock be rent. Let the hard hearts of the stony
hearts be broken. And He shook that whole earth.
We're going to see a little more of that in the next message.
And in Hebrews 12, it says this, that once more in the end of
the world, He's going to shake this earth. Listen to this. Hebrews 12 says, His voice shook
the earth then, but He's promised, once more I will shake the earth. It's Haggai. Haggai. Once more
I shake not the earth only, but heaven. Everything. And what He said signifies the
removing of those things that are shaken. That is everything.
God said, the heavens and the earth are going to pass away.
And He said, those things which cannot be shaken. will remain. Cannot be shaken, will remain.
What does the psalm say? The psalm says, the heavens and
earth will perish, but thou, Lord, remainest. Thou, Lord, remainest. The Lord
is going to shake this whole universe in the end. And look
at verse 53, 52. 52, the graves were opened and many
bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves
after His resurrection. After the Lord arose, this happened,
and went into the holy city and appeared unto men. The graves
were opened. When Christ died on the cross
and the Lord sent that earthquake, graves were opened and dead people
arose. And if the Spirit of God moves
and He moves one way through the preaching of Christ crucified,
He takes the things of Christ. This is the only way that He
breaks the hard heart. We'll see that in the next message.
By the gospel of Christ crucified, this is the only way sinners
are saved. Only way. Not little sermonettes,
not little moral stories, not inspiring stories, but the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is what sinners
need, must see, for the hard heart to be broken over sin.
Righteousness of judgment. And if the Holy Spirit moves,
the stony heart is removed, the heart is broken, and dead sinners
are raised, quickened together with Christ. And it says they
went in, and the saints, who were raised? Everybody? Was everybody raised when this
happened? Who was raised? Saints, sanctified ones, chosen
ones. And it says, they went in, in
verse 53, into the holy city. What's the holy city? That's
the church, New Jerusalem. And that's when you were raised
from the grave, that's where you went. The Lord adds to the
church, you see, through the gospel, at Pentecost, and appeared
unto many." These dead saints went into town and they appeared
unto many. In other words, people saw those
who were dead walking in newness of life. What made this? Look! There's
Stan! He was a dead sinner, but look
at him. What made the change? What gave
him life? The gospel of Christ and Him
crucified.