is talking about the death of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now he died and it says there in verse 38 and after this Joseph of Arimathea
being a disciple of Jesus but secretly for fear of the Jews
besought Pilate that he might take away the body the body of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And Pilate told him and gave
him, said, go ahead and take it. He came and took the body,
the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then said in verse 41, now
in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the
garden, a new sepulcher, grave, a new grave. Nobody had ever
been in that grave yet. There laid they Jesus, therefore,
because of the Jews' preparation. I want to talk about the death
of our Lord Jesus a little while, and this is a subject that's
never-ending, never-ending interest to a believer, the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And what it accomplished, it
accomplished something. There was a reason for it. There
was a reason for it. And the death of our Lord Jesus
Christ and his resurrection is our hope for time and eternity.
It's our only hope. Have no hope nor the wealth.
My only hope, my only plea, is that when Jesus died, he died
for me. We sang so many hymns concerning
our Lord's death. Alas, and did my Savior bleed
and did my Sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I? Huh, would he? Was it for crimes that I had
done he groaned upon the tree? Amazing grace, amazing pity,
love unknown, and grace beyond degree. Will might the sun in darkness
hide and shut his glories in? when Christ the mighty maker
died, for man the creature sinned. Oh my, thus might I hide my blushing
face when his cross appears, dissolve my heart to thankfulness
and melt thine eyes to tears. How many songs do we sing concerning
the death of Christ? There is a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath
that flood lose all their guilty stains. We talk of our Lord's
death, we talk of its effects and what it did, why He died,
who He died for, the purpose behind His death. And we praise God for his death.
We thank God for the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. If he
hadn't died and hadn't buried our sins in his own body, there'd
be no hope for anybody on the face of this earth, none whatsoever. In the scriptures, the first
promise in the Bible, Genesis 3.15, talks about the death of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Said, the sin of the woman shall
bruise the head of the serpent, but he shall bruise his heel.
So cross the head of the serpent and he shall bruise his heel,
speaking of his death. And you know, over here, I want
you to see something in Luke before I get into this message.
I want you to see something in Luke chapter nine. Luke chapter
nine, verse 28. You know, there's, this is one
of them things that's very instructive for us. And when our Lord went
up on the mount, you know, and he was transfigured there, Peter,
James, and John went with him. And let's look here at verse
28. And it came to pass, about an
eight days after these sayings, he took Peter, James, and John
and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered. And the clothes he had on was
white and glistening, and in one place it shined like the
sun. And listen to this, and there were two men with him,
which were Moses and Elijah. And you know Peter, James, and
John knew who these men were? How did they know it was Moses
and Elijah? Never seen them before. That's
what the Lord, you know, That's why when we get to Gloria, we're
going to know as we're known. We're going to know. But they were known, and this
is what they were talking about. This is why they appeared with
our Lord Jesus Christ on this mountain. Moses represents the
law. Elijah represents the prophets.
And they said, who appeared in glory. They was appearing with
him in glory, because he was in his glory, so they appeared
with him in his glory. And spake of his decease, or
the death which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. So they met long
before and talked about what his death was gonna do. Because
you find that all through the scriptures, his death, the Passover,
the ark, all those things speak of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
so, and you go through the scriptures over and over and over again,
and that's what they were there to talk about. Talk about what
his death would accomplish at Jerusalem. And thy Lord himself
talked about his death. He said, except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die,
it shall bring forth much, much fruit. And he said, and he steadfastly
set his face to Jerusalem. And he told his disciples one
day, I must go up to Jerusalem. I must suffer, and I must die. I must die. And I tell you, the
Old Testament saints looked forward to him being the Lamb slain,
the Lamb slain. That's why John said, behold,
the Lamb of God. And I seen an old poem one time
and it's like this, maybe we could put a tune to it one of
these days. Even the angels, even the angels desired to look
into it. It tells us over in 1 Peter.
Immortal angels, bright and fair, in countless armies shined, at
his right hand with golden harps they offer songs divine. In all
the toils and dangerous paths they did his steps attend, oft
paused and wondered how at last the seed of love would end, and
when the powers of hell combined to fill his cup of woe, the pitting
eyes beheld his tears in bloody anguish flow. As on the tottering
tree he hung, and darkness veiled the sky, they saw aghast that
awful sight, the Lord of Glory died. Now I got four things to
say about the death of Christ today, four things to say about
it. And this is the first message
I'm gonna try to preach on the seven sayings from the cross,
and this is my first one. My first one talking about his
death. First thing I wanna say about his death, that it was
natural. And what I mean by that, it was a real death. When the
Lord Jesus Christ died, he was dead. He was dead. It was a real death. And who
it was that died is a wonder to us. You see, it was Immanuel
that died. Peter says, you know, he was
delivered by the determined counsel, but also, you took him by wicked
hands, you crucified him, and he was slain. And I'll tell you
what, it's who it was, but his death was, he was really dead.
His body was cold and lifeless, no blood flowing through it,
no heartbeat, no eyes that could see, no ears that could hear. And beloved, and not only that,
it was Emmanuel who died, but it was Jehovah's fellow, Jehovah's
righteous servant. And his life was a life that
was divine. The scriptures tells us that
he purchased the church of God with his own blood. So this is
his death was natural. But how in the world could the
eternal one die? How could it possibly be? How
could he die? Well, the only way you can explain
it is because he became a man. God prepared him a body. And
what did he prepare him that body for? That he could live
in, that he could die in. You know, his death on the cross,
he became a man who was made flesh for that very reason. Look
over here at Philippians. You know, the scriptures can
say it much better than I can. In Philippians chapter 2. You
know, By becoming a man and by being made flesh, he was able
to die. And because we're men, we're
going to die. And Christ so identified with
us that he died. And his death was so real that
he was buried. They gave him a grave. They put
him in a grave. We take people and put them in
graves and cover them up. They put Christ in a grave and
covered up his grave. They prepared his body just like
you go to a funeral home and they prepare your body. They
came and took his body off that tree. It was a body they took
off that tree. A lifeless body. a body that
felt no pain, a body that felt no anguish. But how could that
possibly be? Because he became a man, he became
flesh. But look what it says here in
Hebrews, I mean, excuse me, Philippians chapter two and verse six. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, who being in the form of God, thought it
not wrong for me to be equal with God. He was equal with God. So he never robbed God of his
glory. If I was claimed to be something special, then I'd rob
God of his glory. Christ could not rob God of his
glory, because he was equal with God. But all made himself of
no reputation. Didn't run around like these
preachers do today, giving them a bunch of degrees and putting
up posters that I'm coming to preach and all that rigmarole.
But made himself no reputation. Took a bone in the form. of a
servant, and listen to this, and was made in the likeness
of men. And you know one place it says
in the likeness of sinful flesh. He took on a body just like us,
and then being found in fashion as a man, in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient, even the death of the cross. And what I'm telling you
is that his death was so real that he was buried for three
days. Buried for three days. That's a strange thing to me.
But his death was as natural as me and you dying. That way. Now let me tell you the second
thing. Not only was his death natural, I mean he really was
dead. They took a body off that tree. Ain't that what it says?
He might take away the body of Jesus. They prepared a body. They put a body in a grave. And
let me tell you something else that it was. Not only was it
natural, but the death of Christ was unnatural. It was abnormal. Well how could it be abnormal?
But I'll tell you, death had no claim on him. Death had no
claim on him. You know, the wages of sin is
death. Well, he had none. He had none. You know, the scriptures,
Gabriel, when he came and told Mary she's gonna have a son,
she said, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God. And I tell you what, the scriptures
tells us plainly, our Lord Jesus said, which of you convinces
me of sin? I don't have to be convinced
of sin, I know what I am. I've already been convinced that
I'm a sinner. And I need a savior, I've been
convinced of that. But I tell you what, who's gonna
convince Christ of sin? You know, he did not sin. He
did not sin. He could not sin. And the Scriptures
tells us that he had no sin, none whatsoever. And it says
over 2 Corinthians 5, 21 that he knew no sin. He didn't know
it in thought, didn't know it in word, didn't know it in action,
didn't know it in heart, didn't know it in any way possible he
knew sin. And the scriptures tells us that
he was without spot and he was without blemish. And you find
Pilate. Pilate come out three times.
Three times. And he said, I want you to know
that I find no fault in this man. Don't crucify him. Come out again. He said, I tell
you that I find no fault in this man. And his wife came up to him and
she said, now Pilate, she said to him, said, whatever you do,
don't you have nothing to do with this just man? Said, I've
suffered so much in a dream because of him. Pilate come out there
again and said, I find no fault in this man. Huh? Oh my. And I tell you, his wife called
Christ that just one. And the scripture said he was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh. When you saw him, he looked
like a man, he walked like a man, he talked like a man, he hungered
like a man, he thirsted like a man, he needed rest as a man. So it was unnatural for our Lord
to die, because it's gonna be, listen, he had no reason to die. He had no sin. We're gonna die
because of sin. Christ did not have to die. He
did not have to die. He had no sin. How in the world
could he die then, because he was made in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and then for sin. He's made an offering, a sacrifice
for sin. Let me tell you the third thing.
It's natural, he's dead. He's dead, it's a death. A body
was really dead. But he, it was unnatural because
he had no sin. If you don't have, you know,
I'm gonna say something right here and I hope you understand
it. We get accused of a lot of things, but man is such a sinner
That if a man didn't have sin, he'd never die. An infant that
would be born would never die. Do you know that? You know why
babies die? Same reason you and I are gonna
die. Sin. Born with it. Shapen in iniquity
and conceived in sin. You say, oh, that sounds awful.
But that's why people die. It's because of sin. And our
Lord Jesus Christ has said his body suffered no corruption.
Lazarus laid in the tomb for four days and he says he stinks. But our Lord Jesus Christ laid
in the grave for three days and there was not a bit of corruption
came into his body. Why? Because he didn't have sin
in his body. We're corrupt and rotten because
we got sin in our bodies. We're dying now. Why? Because
we've got sin in our bodies. Sin's slowly but surely killing
us. But our Lord Jesus Christ had
none of his own. None of his own. And oh my, I
tell you what, that's why it's gonna be such a, that's why it's
such a blessed thing to know that Christ put away our sin
and we'll never have to face God for it. I gotta die but I
don't have to face God in death. I won't have to face God for
my sin. I won't have to face God for
my wretchedness because Christ has already took care of it.
Huh? Oh, bless his holy name. And
then let me tell you something else about his death. It was
preternatural. What do I mean by preternatural?
Preter means determined beforehand. It's like us, you know. We was
predetermined. Preter, predetermined. Predestinated. loved beforehand, and our Lord's
death was preternatural. That means it was determined
beforehand. The scriptures tells us plainly
that Jesus Christ our Lord was the lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. He was a lamb without spot and
without blemish. And I tell you, you know, known
unto God are all his works from the beginning. And as I told
you already, Acts 2.23 says this, Him being delivered, delivered
up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. God
delivered Him up, but man, when he had a chance to do something
to Him, took Him by wicked hands, slew Him, crucified Him. People
say, I wouldn't have done that if I'd have been there. Listen,
I'd have been the loudest, meanest man in the crowd. Huh? I'd have been the crying the
loudest. Wouldn't you? Yeah, I know I
would have. That's why I need saving. I know
exactly why. And let me tell you, before God
ever made Adam and created Adam, before he ever put the sun in
the sky and the sons of God shouted for joy, Our Lord Jesus Christ
God prepared a Savior and had a Savior before he ever created
the first man. Why did he do that? Didn't he
know Adam was going to sin? Get out of here, surely he didn't. Well, of course he knew what
Adam was going to do. Did he make Adam do what he did?
No. But did he know what Adam was gonna do? Yes. So why in
the world would he not be prepared before man ever sinned? He had
a Savior provided for us before the world ever began so that
he could save us by the grace and blood and righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, before there was ever a sinner,
God had a Savior. Before Adam ever fell in the
garden, God had a Savior for him. He's the just for the unjust. God said, I found the ransom.
Now look over here in Acts. Look over here in Acts with me.
Chapter four. Acts chapter four. I want you
to see this. We've looked at this before,
but I think this will be a blessing to you. Acts chapter four, verse
26. You know, our Lord's death was
determined beforehand. That's why our Lord steadfastly
set his face to go to Jerusalem. My father gave me a work, and
I must work, our Lord Jesus said. Look down here in verse 26. The
kings of the earth stood up, Pilate, Herod, And the rulers
were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, Pontius Pilate, with
the Gentiles and the people of Israel, they all got together.
And listen to this. to do whatsoever thy hand and
thy counsel determined before to be done. He said, they're
just doing what they're supposed to do. They're just doing what
they, do you think that they knew what they were doing? No,
they didn't know. They just hated him so, despised
him so, ridiculed him so, and hated him so, that they said,
this is our chance to get away, get rid of this man. But they
were just doing what God did to them. They either one of them
done just exactly what they wanted to do. But they was doing God's
will. Doing God's will. Now that's
a mystery. That to me, that's a mystery.
And it was as God viewed our Lord Jesus Christ as the lamb
slain. Now you listen to me. That He
justly passed over the sins of all the Old Testament saints.
Now listen. From Adam all the way to John
the Baptist was the last Old Testament prophet. Now how did
all those sins be forgiven of all those saints? Because Christ's
blood hadn't been shed. And how could all those sins,
God, the Scriptures tells us He threw forbearance, forbearance,
forbade their sins. And why did he forbear their
sins? Because of the Lord Jesus Christ that would come and bear
their sins. So all the Old Testament saints'
sins were paid for on the cross, just like our sins was paid for
before we ever committed them. All those sins were in the past.
All of our sins were in the future. And yet when he died, he took
care of all the past sins of all the Old Testament saints,
and he took care of all the sins of the New Testament saints.
Ain't that right? The greatest thing that happened
between eternities was the death of Christ. All the sins of all
on people. Abraham, you know, here's an
interesting thing, let me tell you this. When you go to Hebrews
11, and you look there, You got Abraham. You got Abel. You got all these people mentioned.
And in the Old Testament you see their sins blatantly. You
see Abraham lying. You see Abraham yielding to his
flesh and having a child by the flesh. And you see all these people.
And yet when you get to the New Testament, does not say one thing
about their Old Testament sins. You know why? Because God looks
at them, and there is beauty in Christ. Me and Greg was talking
last week, and Scott, I told him two or three things that
I never heard nobody ever say before until Scott said them.
He said he was preaching one time about Noah being in the
tent drunk, being in the tent naked. And his sons, one son
come in there and saw him, his other two walked backwards. He
said the only person who never saw his nakedness, you know who
it was? He said his God. God never saw his nakedness.
Why didn't he see his nakedness? Because he is clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. That's why God don't see us naked.
Reclaimed in the righteousness of Christ. His raiment was altered
and white and glistening. As far as God's concerned, our
raiment shines. Our righteousness shines. And
I tell you, it's only as God viewed Christ as the Lamb that
He justly, justly passed over the Old Testament sins. And you
can see that in Romans and then also in Hebrews. And then let
me tell you the last thing about His death. Natural, unnatural,
determined beforehand, preternatural, and then fourthly, it was supernatural. Supernatural. It was different
from anybody else's death that's ever had on the face of this
earth. His death was different than anybody else's. Even in
death, he has to have the preeminence in all things. He has the preeminence
in all things, even in his death. Even in his death. Look over
here in John 17 with me. Let me show you what I'm talking
about. Look what our Savior said. Now
he's talking about he has to have the preeminence. Now he's
praying his high priestly prayer here and the saints get to listen
in. Verse one, these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes
to heaven and said, and I tell you, he could see God. He could
see the Father. He actually could. Father, the
hour has come. The hour has come. Glorify thy
son. Listen to this, that thy son
may also glorify thee. Where am I gonna glorify yet?
On that cross, huh? Look what he said in verse five.
And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with
the glory which I had with Thee before the world ever was. Oh,
I listen. I'm gonna go to die. But now
let me tell you, He had the preeminence in eternity. He was delight of
His Father. His Father rejoiced in His presence. He delighted in His presence.
He was daily His delight. And look, who ever had a birth
like our Lord Jesus Christ? Nobody ever had a birth like
Him. He was born of God, He was born of the Holy Spirit, born
of a virgin. And when they come and told Mary
that, she said, that's impossible, it just can't be. Yes, with you
it's impossible. But with God, he has no problem. You know God, God come upon a
woman named Mary and she had never been with a man and God
himself by the power of the Holy Ghost come over her and planted
seed in her and it was the seed of God. That's all, you know, how can
it possibly, where's his birth? You know, the angels sang at
his birth. The wise men, they followed the
star to his birth. He was laid in a manger in a
birth. Nobody had a birth like him.
And then his life, whoever lived a life like our blessed Savior,
whoever lived like him, Every step he took, every step he took
from the time he started walking, he never took a misstep all the
days of his life. I heard somebody say one time
that no doubt when he was working in the carpenter shop that he
hurt himself, got a splinter in his hand or something like
that. That'd make him imperfect. That'd make him like me and you.
They said, well, he could stub his toe. That'd make him like
me and you. He never stumbled, he never faltered,
he never stubbed a toe, he never done anything, there's nothing
ever happened. The only time that his body ever
suffered was when he was on that cross. I tell you, there's no, listen,
that's why he said, that's why Pilate said, I don't find any
fault in this man. God said, this is my beloved
son, and I want you all to know this about him. I'm more pleased
in him. Nobody else may be, but I am.
Nobody else may look at him and say, oh listen, this man's perfect
before me. But God said he is. Oh my. And then there's what?
His life was a life of doing nothing but good. Opened blind
eyes. Gave dead life. Gave cleansed
lepers. Made the deaf to hear. Made the
lame to walk. Everywhere he went, I'm telling
you what, and sinners delighted to be in his presence. The only
people who despised him was religious people, just like it is today. And I tell you what, not only
in his life, but in his death. Who ever had a death like his?
I done told you he didn't have to die. But who ever had a death
like his? Here He was besides two men. And you know it took a long,
long time to die on the cross. But our Lord Jesus Christ, He
had the preeminence even in death. His death was like nobody else.
His death actually accomplished something. My death won't accomplish
nothing. Your death won't either. Nobody
that ever died in your family, their death never accomplished
nothing. People say, well, I hope by this happening, you know that
the Lord will bring them. If they won't bring them to God
through his preaching of the gospel, he ain't gonna bring
them because somebody in your family dies. He can take one of your children,
and that won't bring you to Christ. Christ is the old gospel's only
thing that can bring you to Christ. You may weep, weep, weep, weep
over somebody, but that just makes you sorry, it makes you
sad. But oh my, the death of Christ, His death was different
than anybody's. Why? Because it actually done
something, it actually accomplished something. Huh? Oh my, I tell
ya, you know it was supernatural. Look over here in John 10. This
is what I'm gonna tell you. This is what the scriptures will
say much better than I can say. Again, look in John chapter 10
and verse 17 and 18. His death was different than
anybody else's. Huh? Look what it said here in
verse 17. Listen to this now. Therefore
doth my father love me now listen to it because I lay down my life. I lay it down Why do you lay
it down? Because I can take it up again.
If I lay it down, I can take it right back Then look what
else he said. He says no man takes it from
me Nobody's gonna take my life Nobody can take my life from
me But I let down of myself. When I get ready to die, I'll
die. And I'm not going to die until
I get ready to die. That's what our Lord said. I've
got the power to let down, and I have the power to take it up
again. Why? Because God said, this is what
I command you to do. Listen, I've got no power over
life or death, but He did. He did. Oh my. And I tell you it's supernatural
what it accomplished. The first thing is, is it satisfied
God. God saw the travail of his soul
and was satisfied. And secondly, it's actually saved
sinners. It wasn't a valiant effort on
God's part. He actually saved sinners. Now
I will give you seven, seven proofs. of his death being supernatural. And I'll hurry through them if
I can. First of all, seven proofs, seven reasons why his death is
supernatural. That he laid down his life, they
didn't take it. You know in John 18 when they
came to arrest him when he was in the garden with his disciples.
He was over in the garden of Gethsemane. He's over there praying. And you know, old Judas, being
who he was, said, I know exactly where he's at. So I'll take you. I'll take you to where he's at.
And there was 500 men or better that went after one man. And they came after him. And
when they found him, they said, he walked right up to them, walked
right up to them. He said, who are you looking
for? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I am. They shook him
up so bad that they all fell backwards. We come to get him
and I'll tell you what, he faced us head on. And they said, they got up and
said, who are you looking for? Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I
told you that I am. And he said, if you seek me and
want me, let everybody else go away. You can't have me and them
at the same time. And our Lord Jesus, the scripture
says that they took him, in verse 13 of Luke 18, John 18, they
took him and led him away. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. Oh my, led him away. Led him
away. That's the first reason we know
that his death is supernatural. The second one is, and I want
you to look at this with me over in Matthew. Matthew chapter 27. Matthew 27. I want you to see
this with me. This is interesting to me. I believe it will be to you. Look what it says, two times
here, two times this happened. Matthew 27 and verse 46. About the ninth hour, close to
dying, Jesus cried with a loud voice, Oh my, I don't sound like
a man that's not in control of himself. He cried with a loud
voice, saying, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That
tells us why does the Holy Ghost say this? Because he wasn't exhausted. His strength had not failed him
yet. He's still master and conqueror, but not conquered by death. Look
what it says down in verse 50. Now listen to this here, listen
to what this says, this says this twice now, why does the
Holy Spirit put this here? When he had cried again, with
a loud voice, listen to this, he yielded up the ghost. He said, it's time for me to
die. And he yielded, he yielded to it, he yielded to it. He was
still master, he was yielding himself to death. And let me
tell you another one. Back over there in John 19, it
says this, verse 1st I read, Jesus knowing that all the scriptures
was fulfilled, that knowing that the scriptures might be fulfilled,
he has complete control of his mental faculties. He says this,
he said, I thirst. Why did he say I thirst? He said
because Jesus knowing that all things that the scripture is
now being accomplished. He says, I thirst, I thirst. Why? Because they knew, they
knew, he knew that they'd give him vinegar and gone. And that
one scripture said him knowing, him knowing all things, the scriptures
had to be fulfilled. He said, knowing this, this scripture,
he said, I thirst. I thirst. This is proof again
that he laid down his life. Proof again. And then the fourth
reason is this. When he said it is finished,
you notice what it says? It says he bowed his head. Why does it say he bowed his
head? Because his head was erect. He's looking. He's looking around. He's looking
at all them people. seeing all them people, seeing
what they said, hearing what they said. His head was erect
as mine is right now. He wasn't there like this here,
you know, no, no. His head was held up straight,
erect. Oh my, uh-huh. And the scripture
says, then he, listen to it, said, then he bowed his head. bowed his head, and then he gave
up the ghost. Bowed it. You think our Lord's
death wasn't supernatural? Everything about God's supernatural.
Everything he does for us is supernatural. And I tell you,
his head was erect. This is no impotent sufferer
head. His head didn't fall. He consciously, calmly, reverently
bowed his head. And no wonder that centurion
said this. He said, surely, surely this
was the Son of God. And then let me show you another
one. In Luke 23, you don't have to look there, I'll just tell
you. He said, Father, into thy hands, listen to this,
I commend my spirit. I commend my spirit. I can't
commend mine. Can you commend yours? He did. Father, here, I commend my spirit
to you. It's yours. It belongs to you. And I commend it to you. Oh my. And then the scripture
says, and then he gave up the spirit. And there in our text that we
used this morning, they came to break his legs. You know,
when I see stuff like that in the Bible, I mean, you imagine,
if you break your leg accidentally, I mean, it hurts. It really hurts. But these fellas, these men that
are hanging there alive, it took two to three days for men to
die, just dying strictly from exhaustion. But them big old
soldiers, I don't know if they had a big old iron bar, if they
had a hammer, but you know how cruel and how mean a man would
have to be? I mean, if I was in the military,
somebody told me to go break somebody's leg, I'd say, excuse
me, I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. I couldn't
do that. And then they walked up to them
fellas, Bam! Both legs cracked. Right about, right about probably
their shins. And they went down like that.
And they died real quick. And then they came to our Lord.
And they were amazed that he was dead already. Why was he
dead already? Because it was his time. He said, it's time for me to
go. And when it's time for me, I'll get my body back out of
the grave, and I'll come back right back out of there. It's
time for me to die, time for me to live. Oh, what a Savior. I mean, we
can't talk about Him. We can't honor Him enough. But
you think about that. He said, it's time for me to
die. Father, here's my spirit. And then he said, well, listen,
I've got to die. And he said, oh, they're going
to bury me. But he said, I've got the power to lay it down,
and I've got the power to take it up again. Who in the world
moved that stone out from his grave? I don't think angels did
it. There was two angels sitting
there when they came. But our Lord Jesus Christ, listen,
He created this world and He created the rocks. He can move
a rock. When it's time for Him to come back to life, get out
of my way. I'm coming out of here. That
rock just rolled away like it was a pebble. Our mind can't grasp how glorious
He really is. Oh my. And oh, they came to break
His legs. And I tell you, the Lord Jesus
Christ, I'll tell you something else that happened. He was already
dead. And then that man took that spear
and ripped his side to fulfill the scripture. And here's another
thing, here's the seventh thing. There was a great earthquake
that day. A great earthquake that day. You're talking about
a phenomenon. The scripture, and I'll tell
you what, here's, First thing that happened when our Lord died,
in Jerusalem, there's a veil that hung in that great big Herod's
temple. Thirty, forty foot wide, and
it was about four inches thick. And when he died, that veil went
from top to bottom. Now anybody could cut one and
tear it from bottom to top, but for if they do it on its own,
and you know why that veil opened up? To show us that how false
and foolish and empty religion is. There's nothing behind that
veil. The Wizard of Oz ain't back there. There ain't nobody
back there. There ain't an ark back there.
There's not an altar back there. There's not a mercy seat there.
There's nothing, it's a sham. And now when that veil's open,
that shows us that we have a new and a living way. Now we can
come into the presence of God and there ain't no veil between
us and God. Huh? And oh my. And then the earthquake. I don't
believe there's just an earthquake right there. I believe the whole
earth, the whole earth shook on its axis. The whole earth
shook all over, just like shaking something. God just shook the
whole earth. You know, the earth didn't bust
open and things like that. He just shook the whole earth.
The earth quaked. And I tell you, even the earth
itself was ashamed at this awful deed. You know, when Cain killed
Abel, God says, your brother's blood cries unto me from the
ground. And if Abel's blood cried, how
much more shall the blood of Christ speak to God for us? And the scripture says that the
rocks rent. And it also says this. This is
an amazing thing to me. The graves were opened. I don't
know how many was opened, but there's a lot of graves opened.
And a lot of people come out of the grave, and they went into
town, and a lot of people saw their family members. They went
into town and appeared to people. Why did that happen? To show
that our Lord conquered death. When he died, he defeated death
once and for all. He was so identified with us
that he conquered the enemy, death. That's why death, for
us, is not an enemy. Oh my, he destroyed death. And
I tell you what, he destroyed his power. He destroyed it. It has no power over us. No,
and that's what he's telling that that when those great big
big graves opening people come out there It's just showing us
that Christ has power over the grave When he wills to go to
the grave that graves opening And he going to see him one of
these days with a shout the voice of an archangel the trumpet God's
going to sound and we're going to be changed in a moment in
the twinkling of an eye and we're gonna meet the man in the air
and beat I mean we'll be changed. All of us at one time be changed. And we'll meet the Lord in there.
And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one
another these words. That's comforting words, ain't
it? All night. Has anybody had a
life? Anybody had a death? You know
what made his suffering so bad, so awful? Who it was that was
suffering. For me to suffer, that ain't
nothing. I deserve to suffer. I ought to suffer. I'm a sinner. But Christ, oh, why did He suffer? Because He willingly did it.
Voluntarily did it. He said, I'll do it. I'll do
it. Our Father, oh bless your holy
name, how wonderfully gracious you are, how wonderfully merciful
you are, how wonderful loving you are
to let us enter in to what our Lord Jesus Christ was and what
he did What he accomplished by his death. And Lord, we're just
touching the hem of the garment. But oh, what a blessed thing
it is to touch the hem of the garment. Oh, to be able to be
where Christ is and where Christ be where we are. We thank you
and bless you and praise you. Bring glory to yourself through
this message. Use it, use it, use it to your
glory. in the good of the hearers, for
Christ's sake. Amen. Amen.