But Isaac Watts, the writer of
that hymn, in verse 3 says, Well might the sun in darkness hide,
and shut his glories in, when Christ The mighty Maker died
for man, the creature's sin. Well might the sun in darkness
hide. And that he's referring to when
from the sixth hour till the ninth, there was darkness over
all the land. The sun was blotted out. And you remember that hymn. We'll try to, as we look at this,
at this message in Matthew 27. There at the cross I saw the light.
Look at verse 54 with me. This is what we'll dwell on in
a moment. Matthew 27, 54. 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. The title of this message is
A Soldier Saved at the Foot of the Cross. I've never really dwelt on this
one verse, but it certainly did catch my attention. But let's
look, beginning with verse 50. We looked at this Sunday when
Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, after He cried,
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? He cried again with
a loud voice. And we know the Scripture says
in John's Gospel, he said, it is finished with a loud voice. It is finished. And then he also
cried, and Luke's Gospel is recorded that he cried, Father, into Thy
hands I commit my spirit. And it says in verse 50, he yielded
up the ghost. He died. Now, Scripture says, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
God became a man. And that's a great mystery that
we cannot fathom. We read how that He said, My God, why hast thou
forsaken me? God forsook God, in the words
of Martin Luther. Martin Luther said, I can't grasp
it. And then the sinless one, he
who knew no sin, yet was made sin. That's a great mystery. But perhaps
the greatest mystery of all is he died. John said, we beheld him life,
but he died. He died. That's a great mystery,
isn't it? Verse 51, it says, And behold,
and we looked at this Sunday, the veil of the temple was rent
in two, from the top to the bottom. And we saw, I believe, why that
happened. the way into the Holy of Holies,
into the heaven itself, into the presence of God, was opened
because Christ died. And the old covenant, He taketh
away the first that He may establish the second. And all those old
things are done away with. The beggarly element, shadow,
done away with for the substance, Christ. And it says, the earth
did quake. Not that there was an earthquake,
but the earth did quake. And I have written under that
Psalm 18. If you've never seen this, look
at it with me. Psalm 18. This is a marvelous
prophecy of Christ being crucified. In Psalm 18, verse 5, Well, verse 4, Psalm 18, it says,
The sorrows of death compassed me. The floods of ungodly men
made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed
me about. 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, and my cry came before Him. even into his ears, then
the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the hills
moved and were shaken because he was wroth, the wrath of God. There went up a smoke out of
his nostrils, fire out of his mouth devoured, coals were kindled
by it. He bowed the heavens also and
came down. Darkness was under his feet. And on and on is that marvelous
passage. But it says the earth did quake. The whole earth shook. And in
our text it says the rocks rent. The rocks did rent, were split
and broken. Rocks, massive stone, but not
our rock. I thought, Brother Stan, not
our rock. He stood firm. And there he stands. And all because Christ died,
look at verse 52. Because Christ died, the graves
were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. Many that were dead lived. And after his resurrection, he
came out of the graves and went into the holy city and appeared
unto many saints which slept. You notice again, it doesn't
say they were dead. or who had died, but those who
slept. Because he that believeth that
Christ shall never die, the Lord said. They slept. And it says
they appeared undiminished. Well, that's a marvelous miracle.
Some of you, we've talked about that, how that is undeniable. Another undeniable fact or proof
of who it was died on that cross, that the dead or those who slept
in Christ lived and came into town and appeared unto many. What a miracle that was. Irrefutable,
undeniable proof of who it was that died there and his power. But just as miraculous, now later
on Sunday, we're going to look at how they try to cover this
thing up. They're going to try to keep this thing under wraps. They're going to try to keep
this story quiet. But just as miraculous, that
would be hard to cover up, wouldn't it? People coming out of the
graves. But just as miraculous, people,
is dead sinners to this day. Dead in trespasses and sin live
and appear unto many. Those who were once dead appear
unto many, believing, loving, believing, rejoicing in the Lord
Jesus Christ, whom they once denied and rejected and hated. And we see some of them, don't
we? We see them appear unto us, come in here, and we think, well,
there's something's up. What a miracle. Undeniable miracles
and proof that truly this was The Son of God. Now, the centurion,
verse 54. Now, when the centurion, the
centurion, that is a title. He's more than just a common
soldier. He's a captain. He's an officer. He's head over
many soldiers. When the centurion, and they
that were with him, centurion and other soldiers, I believe,
perhaps some of his officers or some other men underneath
him, the centurion and those that were with him. It says they
were watching. They saw the things that were
done. They watched Jesus and they saw
the earthquake And those things that were done, it says, they
feared. They, not only the centurion,
but the others with him, feared greatly. And not only the centurion,
but whoever and however many it was that were with him, they
all said, truly, this was the Son of God. Now, here's a miracle. Would you go with me to Mark
chapter 15? This account is given in all the gospels. But in Mark
chapter 15, there's another account similar, but something in addition. Mark chapter 15. Now, this Roman
soldier took part in the crucifixion of our Lord. He may have ordered them to beat
Him. He may have taken part in it,
the actual torture of our Lord. may have ordered the nails to
be driven or took part in it himself. And I'm sure he mocked
him along with the rest of them. But this soldier, this centurion,
was saved by the very one he helped kill. Mark 15, verse 39
says, when the centurion, which stood over against him after
all was done to him, he stood over to the side, and watched
this whole scene. And when the centurion who stood
over on the other side saw that he so cried out, or that he has
heard the Lord say, it is finished with such power and dignity and
authority and force, and the things that happened, and saw
him give up the ghost. Go to Luke 23. In Luke's Gospel
chapter 23, this is where it is written in verse 47, Look
at this. Verse 46, When Jesus had cried
with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous
man. How do you know this man was
saved? He glorified God. He saw the
sun lifted up and he confessed it, didn't he? Gloried in Christ's crucifixion. Now this Roman soldier, he saw
what was done. He heard the Lord cry out in
such a fashion and saw the Lord bow his head. And in the other
gospel it says the Lord bowed his head. I think it's John's
gospel. That he bowed his head. His head didn't drop, didn't
fall because all of a sudden died, but he bowed his head solemnly
and with dignity and still with his own will and his own life
force in him, bowed his head and just died. Gave up the ghost. He took it and gave it up. Gave
up the ghost. And this man cried out, truly,
this man was the Son of God. The Son. He didn't say a son. He said the Son of God. And he
glorified God, and over there we read, he said, certainly this
was a righteous man. Now, this soldier was no different
than the thieves who hung on those crosses beside our Lord,
was he? No different whatsoever. The
ones whom he probably helped to kill also, or gave the orders
to anyway, he was no different than they were. He's a murderer.
This soldier is a violent, murdering, God-hating, Christ-hating, mocking,
scoffing, jeering, unbelieving sinner is what he is. And he
hates this one hanging on the cross here. He hates him. And
with malice and envy it says in another place, and even pleasure,
jeered him and mocked him and inflicted great pain and tortured
him. But it was all according to the
purpose of God. And this soldier, according to
the electing grace of God. Have you ever thought about the
fact that, you know, there are many soldiers, and they were
people like us, and they worked the job. It was a job to them.
And different ones had different shifts. Different ones worked
the day shift and the evening shift and the night shift. had
time off and so forth. Rome was a civilized so-called society at
the time. And this man, today was his day
to work. In God's good providence, in
God's sovereign providence, the Lord had him working that shift
that day. And the Lord had him at the foot
of the cross when it was all over. Under the shadow of the
cross, we sing that song, don't we? Under the shadow of the cross,
beneath the cross of Jesus was where he stood. Over against
him, the Scripture says. And God in His sovereign mercy
and sovereign electing, saving purpose and power, God Almighty
had this man there that day in order to see the sun lifted up. Because our Lord said, this is
the will of the Father, that everyone that seeeth the sun and believeth in him, I will
raise him up, I will save him, I will raise him up." And God
Almighty had this man there this day and had him hear. The first
thing this man did was, the first thing that happened was he heard
the Lord, what the Lord was saying on the cross. Faith cometh by
hearing. I know it says that when he saw
the things that were done, He heard, first of all, our Lord
uttered seven sayings from that crop. Seven sayings. Brother Arthur Pink wrote a book,
well, just a commentary years ago, back in the fifties, with
that title. A very short little book on the
seven sayings of the crop. And here are those seven sayings,
and this centurion heard all of those sayings. And in each
saying is something marvelous. and something powerful and something
effectual. The first words that our Lord
uttered from Calvary's tree when they finally hung him up there
were, now these soldiers had just driven
those nails in his hands, this centurion, one of them. And they
lifted that cross up, you know, with whatever means they did
in order to get it up and drop it down in that hole. And every
joint of his body, you know, came out. And in a few minutes, or however
long, the Lord cried out the first words out of his mouth,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And those are the words the Lord
used to break this old God-hating, Christ-hating rebel. And that
centurion was standing there and he heard these words. And they were meant for him.
Because whoever Christ prays for that the Father will forgive,
they're forgiven. Because the Father always hears
him. That's what he said at Lazarus'
tomb, didn't he? I know that you hear me. You always hear
me. But I say this for them that stand by him. Father, forgive
me. for that centurion. The next
thing our Lord uttered were words to that thief on the cross. The one on his right hand. Remember,
there was one on his left hand and the one on his right hand
who turned out to be a sheep on his right hand. Remember,
the man said to him, Lord? First they were both cursing
Christ just like everybody else. And all of a sudden, this one
on the right hand, his mouth was stopped. He began to loathe
himself. And he began to realize, this
man has done nothing amiss. This is the righteous one, the
sinless one. He was looking at him. He was observing him. The
thief on the cross heard the Lord say that, that first utterance. And that was for him. Father,
forgive him for cursing me just now. He knows not what he does."
And that thief turned and looked at that bloody man on that tree
and said, Lord, remember me when you come into
your kingdom. And the centurions watching this,
the centurions listening to this, and the Lord said, Verily I say
unto thee, today, Shalt thou be with me in paradise." And
the centurion is listening to this. And then the Lord, and a little
while later, the Lord looked down from His cross, and there
stood John, the beloved disciple, and Mary, his supposed mother. And He said unto the woman, He
said, woman. Now he's not thinking of himself,
though he's enduring indescribable pain and suffering
beyond pain. He's not thinking of himself
because he's given himself completely for the sins of his people. And
he looks down. at this woman thinking of her
care and her provisions. He's going to see to her needs
and her care after he's gone. And he says, woman, behold thy
son. He puts her into the care. Apparently, she's a widow. And
he tells her, this is your son now. He's going to take care
of you. And then he says, behold thy
mother. You take care of her. What words of affection, what
words of care, what words of compassion from one who is suffering
so. This is not the way of man, is
it? So the centurion heard this.
And then we saw a couple of weeks ago when the Lord cried to the
Father. The Lord had forsaken him. God
had forsaken him. He was alone. And he cried, My
God, my God, why I stopped receiving? Words of anguish, because this
is a substitute. And then he cries in his suffering,
and he had been suffering a long time, and endured it much longer
than anyone else had or would. These soldiers had crucified
quite a few fellows. They had seen quite a few fellows
endure pain. Pilate had inflicted pain and
suffering upon quite a few big brawny men and saw them reduced
to mere sniveling babies. Not this man. And even Pilate
was amazed at his self-possession and his dignity and his power
over himself and over pain and suffering and didn't defend himself. When he was reviled, reviled
not again. Oh, now there's a man. Now that's what Pilate said,
but behold the man. He said that to his soldiers
and the centurion heard that. And so he had suffered a long
time, the Lord. He hung six hours on the cross
and he had his hands and feet pierced. And an average human
being would have died from loss of blood very shortly after.
Not him. He didn't die from loss of blood.
He gave up the ghost. But he uttered these words, I
thirst. And he didn't say this, I know
he didn't. And knowing what else he said, I know he didn't say
this in a way as to appeal for help. He didn't say this in a
way that I'm going to die of thirst. No, no, no, no. He's
saying this that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. Because it says he would say,
I thirst, and in his thirst they gave him vinegar to drink. And
he said this also with a clear voice. Barbara, he didn't say
this with a raspy voice that was parched, needing water, but
he said it The voice of the Lord now was never weak. And he said
it with power and again with dignity. I thirst that the Scriptures
might be fulfilled. And the centurion heard this. And then he heard those words
where the Lord cried out so that all heaven and earth would hear. It is finished. Words of finality,
words of victorious words, as if something were absolutely
accomplished. As a victor, as one who has vanquished
his foes, and he said with a loud voice, as one who had conquered
a world, if you will, it is finished. Oh man, and the centurion heard
this. And then those last words, that
seventh saying our Lord uttered when he said, Father, and again,
in total control, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. And he died. The centurion heard
this. He heard all this. And you did
too. And this is what he heard, the
voice, the powerful voice of the Son of God, and the voice
of the Son of God will make the hinds to calve and the cedars
to break, and it will also break the hardest heart. A man who
had come in to inflict pain and torture and out of hatred and
resentment, a wicked, violent man who hated this man in front
of him, the Lord God took that very man who hated him and turned
him into the lover of him. Right then and there. It came
to jeer him and taunt him and wanted him dead, and when it
was ended, he wanted to bow at his feet. That's power. And the Lord had him standing
at the foot of the cross, had him behold the crucified one,
because this is life. Behold the crucified one. And
he had the very blood of the Son of God on his hands. And
blasphemies and insults had just come out of his mouth, but God.
Rich in mercy for this man, and grace quickened him by his grace. Rich in mercy. I love that Psalm
71.3, it says, Thou gavest commandment to save me. This was his time,
wasn't it? This was this man's time, and
the Lord gave commandment. That song Brother Parks sang,
Almighty love arrests that man. Now this soldier, this centurion,
has been apprehended, been arrested by almighty love, by the Spirit
of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, even then,
hanging on that cross, gave commandment to save that man right there
and his buddies. And all of a sudden, according
to the working of God's mighty power, that once hateful, murderous
rebel sees the Son, believes the Son, glorifies God, and with
the heart, out of the heart of the issues of life, see, he's
been given a new heart. Life has been given for a look
at the Son. out of a new heart and faith
from the heart, because out of the abundance of the heart, or
with the heart man believeth, and out of the abundance of the
heart, when something's in the heart, it's got to come out the
mouth. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.
And so he had to truly He confessed Him right then and there for
all to hear. And so did the rest of them. Truly, this was the
Son of God. Whosoever confesses that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, is born of God. This is the Son of God, truly,
certainly. And He gave glory to God. Now,
isn't this salvation? It's a salvation. Seeing the
Son, seeing the Crucified One, seeing the Substitute, hearing
His voice, hearing His powerful voice, having the heart broken,
seeing one's own sinfulness, seeing Christ's glory, glorifying
God through Christ the Son, and saying, He said this too, this
is a righteous man. Not me. Not anybody here. But this one. This one. And he says, this is not just
Jesus, this is the Lord Jesus. This is not just Jesus, this
is the Lord, my righteousness. This is not just Jesus, this
is the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Most High God.
My God, my Lord, my Savior, my all. Yes, when Christ died, many
lived. And this man is one of them. The Lord had purposed
him to be there that day. Purposed him to be there, to
sit, to stand at the foot of the Lord's cross and behold His
glory. Aren't you glad? And He did the
same thing for me one day and for you. Okay, stand with me. Our Lord, thank You for Your
sovereign mercy and grace and power for Your Word that breaks
the hardest heart. Lord, we ask that You do just
that. We need our hearts broken constantly.
We are no different than the children of Israel who become
stiff-necked and hard-hearted, and we need You to do the work
afresh anew. We need Thy Holy Spirit to work
upon us, convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment. How that we need
Christ. Lord, we've been looking at Christ
crucified. We say we preach Christ. That's
what we want to do. It's Him we want to look to and
look at and see the sun high and lifted up, because you see
it. If He'd be lifted up, He'd draw men unto you. The Lord enable us to see Him. There's life for a look at the
sun. Look unto me and be you saved. All the ends of the earth.
The Lord enable us to look by faith in Him and live. Thank
you again for bringing us here. In Christ's name we've met together.
Amen. You're dismissed.