He is a preacher, ain't he? He
is so gifted. God has blessed him so abundantly. And I enjoy his preaching, his
company, his fellowship. And I not only enjoy it here,
but I get to enjoy it through eternity. That's what's so wonderful
about it. Down here in verse 33 is where
I want to get my subject this morning. And when they were come
to the place which is called Calvary, the place of the skull,
there they crucified Him and the malefactors with Him, one
on the right hand and the other on the left. Let's take another
look at Calvary, another look at Calvary where they crucified
Him, where they took our Lord Jesus Christ and nailed Him to
a tree. First of all, we want to look
at this, that they cried out, the priest and everybody cried
out, crucify him, crucify him. And it says in verse 24, and
Pilate gave sentence, or passed the sentence that they required
of him. They wanted him dead. They wanted
him crucified. They wanted to be done with this
Jesus of Nazareth, this man who said that he was God. This man
who said, except you believe on me, you'll die in your sins. The man who says that no man
can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me, draw him.
The man who said that when you see me, you see the Father. The
man who said, when I speak, I'm speaking what my Father put in
my mouth. And yet they said, crucify him.
We want to be done with him. And Pilate said, okay. That's
what you want. Though I see no sin in him, I
find no fault in him, I'll do what you want. I'll kill him. I'll deliver him up to death.
And this shows us man at his best state, his altogether vanity. And then it says there in verse
25, And he released unto them him that preditioned for sedition. Sedition means a man that's splitting
people. He's a rebel, and he's trying
to cause an uprising, and a murderer. They said, release him. We would
rather have a murderer and a rebel, a man who's trying to cause a
revolution, than this man Jesus. So give us him, Give us Barabbas,
give us this murderer, this rebel, this upriser, this revolutionary,
and crucify this Jesus of Nazareth. And then look what else it said
in that last part of verse 25, that he delivered Jesus to their
will. Man wants to go on and on about
what power his free will has. That's free will at its best.
That's free will at its best. We want our will, and that's
what we ought to do. It will deliver Jesus up to death
every time. It will save itself and deliver
Christ up. It will do everything in its
power to make itself acceptable to God except come to Christ.
And so, thus may they deliver Jesus up to their will. And then
look what it says in verse 26. And as they led him away, led
as a lamb to the slaughter, They didn't drag him. They didn't
push him. They didn't compel him. They
just led him away. Just led him away. It's time
for the lamb to be offered. It's the great day of atonement.
It's the Passover lamb that's going to be offered up this day.
The last and final Passover. And this is the lamb that God
sent from eternity, that was slain from eternity, is going
to be slain and offered in time, and going to put away sin once
and for all on this day of atonement, not to be offered ever again.
And, O beloved, though Pilate and these Jews and these Roman
soldiers and these Gentiles Sinful, weak man is doing a horrible,
horrible deed, but it's really God the Father who is delivering
up His Son here to the will of the people as He ordained it
to be for our salvation. Now, you keep Luke 23 and look
in Acts chapter 2. Let me show you what I'm saying.
They delivered Him up. Yes. They cried, crucify him,
crucify him. Acts chapter 2 and verse 22. And they, our father, our God,
is delivering him up here to the Lord Jesus, up to these men. It says in Acts 2.22, you men
of Israel, Peter's preaching here, hear these words. Jesus
of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, By all the miracles
that he did, and the wonders that he did, and the signs that
were made of men manifest, which God did by him in the midst of
you, as you yourselves also know. You know these things, you've
seen them, you were there. Him, this Jesus imagined. Now watch this, being delivered
up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, You
have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. You've
done God's will, and yet you've done your own will. You're just
doing what God willed to be done, but you've done what you wanted
to do. You exercised your will. Now look over in Acts chapter
4, in verse 26. And that's why it says, you know,
that the father delivered up his son, delivered him up here.
And here's Simon Peter praying here. He says in verse 26, The
kings of the earth stood up, 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 and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together. Now listen, for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." Oh, bless His name. That man
done his best, but God made the wrath of man to praise Him here.
Now, let's look back over in Luke 23, and let's take another
look at this place called Calvary. It took him to a place, and there
we come to the place which is called Calvary. Well, first of
all, it's a place of guilt. It was a place of guilt. Look
what it says right after that. There they crucified him and
the malefactors, one on the left and the other on the right. Now,
this is a place where men were crucified because they were guilty
of some kind of a crime. Criminals were all that were
crucified. And here they took our Lord Jesus
Christ and put Him between two thieves, two criminals, as if
He was a greater criminal. There, when you went and stood
there to those crosses, there were one, two, three crosses,
and that man in the middle, he was considered the worst. And
there stood the Lord Jesus Christ. Passers-by would see those three
men and consider all of them as criminals. all of them guilty
of a crime. And two men, excuse me, two men
on those crosses are there for their own crimes, things they
were actually guilty of. But Christ was there not for
his own guilt, not for his own crimes, not for his own shame,
not for anything that he himself had done. He was there for the
crimes and the guilt and the shame and the sins of his own
people. And had not that taken place,
we would have been just like those other two malfactors. And,
oh, beloved, and look at, you know, over in Isaiah 53, in verse
12, it says this, that he was numbered with the transgressors.
And there our Lord Jesus Christ, these are transgressors. And
here's our Lord Jesus Christ. They number him right along with
them. And our Lord is guilty, but not
of His own sin. Our Lord is guilty, but not of
anything He did. Our Lord is guilty, but, beloved,
He bears somebody else's guilt here. Our Lord has never done
anything against anybody and always honored His Father, but
yet He's suffering. Why? Because He's bearing the
guilt and the sin and the condemnation of a people given to Him in all
eternity. And I do know this, if I, Lord
Jesus Christ, didn't bear your gift, and bear your sin, and
your judgment, then you'll bear it yourself throughout eternity
before God Himself. I do know that. I know that without
a shadow of a doubt. And that's why He says, when
He says, weep not for Me. Don't you all, you daughters
of Jerusalem, don't weep for Me. You weep for yourself. You weep for yourself. Don't
weep for me. I'm doing my Father's will. I'm
finishing the work that He gave me to do. I came here to save
a people and a covenant of grace, and I'm going to do it. I'm going
to finish that work. And if they do this in a green
screen, and do this to somebody that's living in his life, what
do you think they'd do to somebody that's grieving, that's dead
and dry and lifeless like us? And he says, and now come a time
that they'll cry to the mountains, fall on us to the cave, and he'll
hide us from the face of him, the Lamb of God. So I tell you,
if Christ didn't bear your guilt, you'll bear it. If Christ didn't
bear your sin, you'll bear it. And oh, let me tell you something,
there's three imputations in the Scriptures. Look with me
in Romans chapter 5. Now you keep Luke 23, look in Romans
chapter 5. There's three imputations in
the Scriptures. There's Adam's sin imputed to
us. And that's why we were born sinners.
We were born with a sin nature. Adam's sin was imputed to us.
We all sinned in our father Adam, we all fell in our father Adam,
and Romans 5.12 tells us that. Romans 5.12, whereas for by one
man sin entered into the world. What one man? Our father Adam. One man is how sin entered into
this world. And then look what it says. And
death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned. Where did they sin at? In Adam.
And then they sinned in themselves because of their sinful nature.
And then look over in Romans 5.18. Adam's sin is imputed to
us. We come into this world guilty. We come into this world condemned.
And nobody would teach their children to lie, to steal, to
cheat, to say no, to be disobedient. But I tell you what, they learn
that so quick. They learn it that fast. And
you spend your life raising that child, trying to teach it right
from wrong, not to lie, not to steal, not to say no, to be obedient,
but, beloved, the first thing out of their mouth whenever they
get big enough is, no! Don't want that! I don't want
to go to bed! I don't want to wear that! I don't want to go to sleep! I don't want that bottle! And we've been doing that all
the days of our lives. God says this for you and that
for you and said, no, I don't want it. I don't want Christ. I don't want his righteousness.
I got my own. And all beloved in Christ, Adam
sins to us and then our sin to Christ. You know that God made
him to be sin. And look what it says there in
verse 18. Our sin is charged to Christ
and put on Christ. Therefore, as by the offense,
verse 18, of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. So even so, by the righteousness
of one, by the doing of another, the free gift, and this free
came upon all men to justification of life. For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous." And our Lord Jesus Christ, our sins,
God made Him to be sin. He Himself bore our sins in His
own body on the tree. And then Christ's righteousness
and His obedience is given to us. And also, you see, beloved, three
invitations. If Christ didn't bear your sin,
so it was a place of guilt. is a place of guilt. And I'll
tell you something, you don't have to feel guilty to be guilty,
do you? You don't have to feel guilty
to be guilty. Just wait till a highway patrolman
writes you a ticket. If you don't feel guilty, you
feel bad. But you're guilty. And that's
the way it is for God. God says you're guilty. And the
way God sees things is the way they are. And let me tell you
something else, not only that, but bless His name, it's also
a place of compassion. Look down here in verse 34. Here's
the place of guilt. Three malefactors, one on the
right, one on the left. Look what our Lord said in John
7, look here in Luke 23, verse 24. Then said Jesus, what a place
of compassion, Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do. And they parted his raiment." What a prayer here. Our Lord
Jesus says, Father, forgive them. And verse thirty-four, Father,
forgive them. What a prayer. Not only does
He say that, but He was numbered in transgression. But it says
there in Isaiah 53.12 that He made intercession for them. And here He is, in His dying,
agonizing death, He's praying for those who are crucified. What a prayer, what a revelation
in this time and in this place and in His agony of the mercy
and the grace and the love that our God and our Lord Jesus Christ
has toward sinners. God commended His love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now, beloved, whether you know
it or not, all men need forgiveness. And our Lord said, Father, forgive
them. Forgive them. They don't know
what they're doing. I didn't know what I was doing. I did not. Paul said I would
get it in ignorance and unbelief. When I was lost, I didn't know
how guilty I was. I didn't know how sinful I was.
I didn't know that I needed forgiveness until I heard our Lord Jesus
Christ and saw Him in my place. All men need forgiveness. If
thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, who would be able to stand? Who
would be able to stand right now, stand up before God and
say, I've got a clean hand and I've got a pure heart. I've never
lifted my soul up to vanity, and I've never uttered any falseness
out of my mouth. And oh, who can say, who can
stand up right now and say that? Lord, if thou shouldest mark
iniquities, who would be able to stand? All have sinned. We just read it. And then, look
what it says there in verse 34. Then, Then, after they'd done crucified
Him between the malefactors, one on the right hand, one on
the left, then said Jesus, Father, forgive them. Then, after the
agony that he went through in the garden, and he prayed until
his sweat came as great drops of blood. Then, after having
been betrayed by Judas with a kiss. Then, after Simon Peter denied
him three times in the presence of his very enemies. Then, after
going before Herod and all those Jews and those priests, after
a mock trial and they hired men to lie on him. Then, after they
scorched him with a can of nine tails, until his body was broken,
bleeding, and his bones were showing. Then, after he had a
crown of thorns put on his head, and slapped until his jaws run,
and his beard plucked out, and after being spit upon, and cleared
the throats in his face, after being hated, despised, and rejected. Then, After being led away, then
after being nailed to the cross, then he says, Father, forgive
them. Forgive Simon Peter. Forgive these men. Forgive these
people. They have no idea what they've
just done. They don't know my glory. They
don't know My grace. They don't know My love. They
don't know that they're accomplishing Your will. They don't know, Father,
forgive them. They don't know what they're
doing. And then He says, Father, what a tender, tender word. Father,
what a tender word. Here he is, he's taking up the
case and the cause of the very sinners that's mailing him to
the cross. I heard Scott Richardson say
one time, he said, if I could find that Roman soldier who took
that spear and pierced the side of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
therewith came out blood and water, he said, I could tell
him a nearer way to the heart of Christ than with that spear. A near way. And there is a near
way. Right where you're set, you can
get to the heart of Christ right now. Right where you're set,
you can get to the heart of Christ. He said, Our Father, forgive
them. Forgive them. And oh, here's
a sinner's advocate. Here's the American intersection
for the transgressors. And oh, beloved, I'm telling
you, God answered this prayer. His Father answered this prayer
immediately. Immediately. And it's still being
answered today. Look down here in verse 43, and
I'll show you what I'm talking about. And He said unto Jesus,
Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said,
Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
That was the first one. Father forgivable, that man was
forgiven right there. And look down in verse 47, And
now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying,
Certainly this was a righteous man. And all beloved, on the
day of Pentecost, 50 days after this, our Lord stayed on the
earth 40 days, And ten days after he went to glory, Peter stood
up on the day of Pentecost and preached. And there were a multitude
of people there that was at that cross. And that's why I said,
you men of Israel, you, you did this. You took him and crucified
him and nailed him to a tree. Him God raised from the dead.
And beloved, that day, 3,000 men and women were saved because
our Lord Jesus said, Father, forgive them. You reckon he's
prayed that prayer for you? He prayed it for me. He prayed
it for me. He interceded for me. Father,
there's a fella, there's a sinner, gonna be born in 1950 on February
the 9th. And he's going to grow up to
be a rebel. He's going to grow up to be a sinner. He's going
to grow up to be a God-hater. He's going to grow up to be a
blasphemer. He's going to grow up to be a
man that despises God and Christ and righteousness. But oh Lord,
cross his path, forgive him, and send him the gospel, and
send him somebody to tell him about me. And one day somebody
did. Because my Lord Jesus prayed,
Father, forgive me. And there was a day God crossed
my path, purged my heart, my conscience, and all beloved. And I tell you what, look down
here then in verse 35 with me, back over in our text here where
I'm at. And then it says in verse 35, not only was it a place of
guilt and a place of compassion, but a place of derision. And
the people stood beholding, and the rulers also with them derided
him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself. If he be
Christ, the chosen of God. Oh, what a mockery. What a mockery. And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, If thou
be the king of the Jews, save thyself. First of all, down in
verse 35, it says the rulers derided him. The chief priests,
the people, the mighty people, the princes of this world is
what Paul called them, the princes of this world. The rulers derided
him. The rulers ridiculed him. The chief priesthood there mocked
him, derided him, ridiculed him. And then it says there in verse
36, and the soldiers also mocked him. Mocked him. And oh beloved,
the way the rulers go, that's the way the country goes, the
people go. And look what they said. And
then, and he says, if thou be, verse 37, if thou be the king
of the Jews, save thyself. Save thyself. Here's what they're
saying is, people are looking for signs. He saved others. He
can't save himself. If you're really who you say
you are, they don't believe he saved himself. They're just trying
to make a bargain with him. They're looking for signs. They're
looking for some evidence. If you're the king, really, if
you really are who you say you are, come on down there and save
yourself. Give us a sign. They're trying to bargain with
him. If you're a ridicule, you say, come on down from there.
And if you do that, then we'd believe you. No, they wouldn't
have believed him. They wouldn't have believed him. And then in
verse 37, look what it says in the last part of that verse.
He saved others. Let him save himself if he'd
be Christ, the chosen of God. Save himself. These words were
sort of ridicule, contempt. He was the object of their ridicule.
And the Scriptures tell us that the tender mercies of the wicked,
they're so cruel, so cruel. And then look what it said, he
saved others. They really didn't believe that. If they believed
he had the power to save, they would have come to him in faith
and bowed to him. That they didn't believe, he
said he saved others. He said he saved others. And
he said he is a savior, but he evidently doesn't know who he
says he is. He's an imposter. We nailed him to this tree, and
he can't even save himself from that. But though, beloved, they're
mocking him and ridiculing him, he did save others. He did save
others. He saved Zacchaeus. Today I must
go to thy house. Today salvation's come unto thee.
He saved Lazarus when he says, Lazarus, come forth. And he that
was dead came forth. He saved Mary Magdalene out of
whom he cast seven devils. His own mother said that he's
my Savior, my Redeemer, the one that God sent to save me. My
Redeemer, that thou would take thy handmaid and give me the
Redeemer for my room. And did Bartimaeus, sent by the
wayside, beg him. And he called him. Oh, he saved
others. He saved lepers who came down
from the mountain. And said, if thou will, thou
can make me clean. And he said, I will be thou clean. And beloved, he saved others.
But I'll tell you one thing he could not do. He could not save
himself. He told Pilate, Pilate said,
I've got the power to crucify you. He said, you've got no power.
My Father gave you the power, and I could call twelve legions
of angels, and they'd be here like that. But this is my hour. This is my time. And beloved,
he couldn't save himself. He could have come off that cross.
He could have come off that cross. But that's not what he came to
do. He couldn't save himself. If he saved himself, he could
not have saved anyone else. If he would have saved himself,
then he could not save you or he could not save me. He's the
only man who ever lived that had a righteousness acceptable
to God from the day he was born to the day he died. He's the
only man who could have walked into the presence of God and
said, and left the rest of us alone. But oh, the Father didn't save
him. He didn't save himself. The Father didn't save him. The
angels didn't save him. Because he could and would save
us. Look with me over. Keep Luke
23 and look in John 12 with me just a moment. John chapter 12
and verse 23. John 12, 27. Look at that with
me just a moment. He says, now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? What shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour." This is my hour. This is my time. And beloved,
because he refused, he refused any mercy, he refused
any grace, he refused any help, he refused even a word of kindness,
and willingly submitted himself to the wrath of God and the justice
of God, and willingly gave himself to be sin to save us from the wrath and
the justice of God and from sin. Willingly did that. He saved
others, but he couldn't save himself. And then it was a place
of testimony. Back over in our text. Look what
it says there in verse 38. You know, they always put over
the criminal, they put a sign of what their crime was. And there was a superscription
also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and
Hebrew. The three languages of that day.
Greek was what? was the common language, Latin
is what the Romans spoke, and then the Jews spoke Hebrew. And
they had a sign over that. And this is what it says, this
is the king of the Jews. That was his crime. They said,
this man says he's the king. He's not our king. Our king is
going to come here and set up his throne in Jerusalem. Our
king is going to come here and set up, and us Jews are going
to rule the whole world. He's going to set up David's
kingdom again. He's going to set up David's throne. He's going
to restore the glory of Esau. He's going to restore the glory
of Solomon and David and that great kingdom. But this was the
crime. He was king. And Caesar would
be upset if we have any king but him. Harris said, go find
that child and have him killed. We cannot have another king other
than me. And they took out after him when
he was, listen, two years old, trying to kill every man and
child. But the cause, they said, unto us this day is born in the
city of David a Savior, the King, a King is born unto us this day.
And, oh, beloved, that's why they said over in Acts 17 that
there is another King, another King, even one Jesus. And I tell you something, beloved,
He's not a coming King. He was king, He is king, and
He'll come king. And you know what? I'll vow to
Him as my king. Don't you? I do. And they put it there to mock
Him. And yet the words were absolutely true. Here God makes the wrath
of men to praise Him. Look again with me in John 19.
Let me show you what they said about this. Oh, these priests
and that, they didn't like this. They didn't like this, that this
was put over there. This is what they wanted. John 19 and verse 19. And this says there in verse
19, Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. The writing
was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. And that's all capitalized. And this title, then, read many
of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was not to
the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not
the King of the Jews, but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have
written, I have written." Pilate put it there, because that's
what he said. And the Spirit of God, though
partly put there, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God was the one
who really had it put there to testify and let the Jews know
that you crucified your king, your Messiah. You're looking
for a great, mighty, glorious man to come and a man with great
power and come and subdue everybody to it. But didn't you read where
it says, thy king shall come riding under thee, meek and lowly,
sitting on the pole of an ass? Did you not read that? Huh? Oh, beloved, here's a place of
test. That's the kingdom of the Jews. Then it's a place of salvation. Back over here in verse 39, Luke
23. And oh, listen to this now. A place of salvation. And one of the malefactors which
were hanged reiled on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself. Save yourself. But the other,
answering him, rebuked him, saying, Don't you fear God? Don't you
fear God? We're here and we're in the same
condemnation. And look what he says. We're
here because we deserve to be here. We're here justly. We're
receiving our due rewards of our deeds. We're just getting
what's coming to us. But watch this, this man had
done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be
with me in paradise. Beloved, if our salvation is
going to be by grace, did you see that? You see the difference
between these two men? One of them's cussing and railing,
and the other one is saying he's sinless, he's the Lord, that
I'm here because I deserve to be here. I'm guilty. I deserve
to die. It's my sins that's put me here.
It's not his. And then he called him Lord.
You're talking about salvation by grace. How else could this
thief have been saved? And the other one passed by.
How else could this thief have been saved? What changed him
while he was hanging on that cross? What changed him from
railing and cursing to acknowledging Christ to be Lord and not Christ
to be sinless and for he himself to be guilty and him justly so? What changed this man's heart?
What changed his mind? What changed his attitude? What
changed his nature in the space of just a few little hours? Same
thing had done it to me. The Holy Ghost, and by sovereign
grace, opened this man's heart. Oh, this man came to see Christ
as who He is by revelation. And let me tell you something.
This is the first man to enter into glory by the blood
of the Lamb. First one to enter there. Abraham
was looking for his day. This fellow was there on the
day. Christ shed His blood and He
took a sinner with Him to glory on the same day. And oh, the whole sum of our
Lord's redemptive work and salvation summed up in these two words
when He told that thief that was beside Him. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be, and here's
the key, with Me. With Me. You're going to be with
Me. And let me tell you something.
God's people, if you're with Him now, and this fellow is with
Him now, it's because Christ, He was with Him from all eternity.
This would just manifest in time. We were chosen in Christ for
the foundation of the world. This man was chosen in Christ
for the foundation of the world. Is that not right? And then He is saved in time.
He was with Him there. He was with Him in our Lord's
life. He was with Him when our Lord
was crucified. He was with Him when He went
to the grave. He was with Him when He was raised
from the dead. He was with Him when Christ entered
glory and sent out the right hand of God. And all for whom
Christ died is with Him in the same way. I'm with Him now. He said, today thou shalt be
with me. What do you think? She fixes that gas today, I must
come to thy house. Salvation's come to your house.
He told her about Mary Magdalene when she wore his feet, said,
this woman has done this to me. With him, we got to be with him.
Are you with him, or is he with you? That's why Paul said, I'm
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I that liveth,
but Christ liveth in me. And, O Beloved, it's by being
with Him, chosen, represented by Him in His life, reconciled
by His death, resurrected in Him. And He said, I say unto
thee. And let me tell you something
about that. He's the only one that can give you assurance.
He's got to be the one that I say unto thee. He's got to be the
one I say unto you. He's got to be the one to tell
you that you're His. He didn't say it to no other
fellow, but when He said it, that fever. He gave him assurance. And he's the only one who can
give you assurance. I can't give you assurance. Being in the church can't give
you assurance. Taking the Lord's table can't give you assurance.
Getting in the baptistry can't give you assurance. The only
person. You ought to have assurance before
you do any of those things, but he's the only one that can give
you assurance. He's got to be the one I say unto you. You're
mine. I say unto you. He's the only
one that can do it. And if He does it, it doesn't
make a difference of what anybody else says it does, does it? And
oh man, I've got to hurry up. Look here, it's a place of miracle.
Verse 44. It was a place of miracle. And
it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all
the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And oh, beloved,
here we see when the darkness covered the earth about the sixth
hour until the ninth hour. Three hours of darkness. We see
here the darkness was symbolic of God's severity towards this
awful scene. This, you know, our Lord says,
you know, He said, you'll be cast into outer darkness. Here's
the utter and absolute darkness. that God grains upon men who
are counted to be sin. And God showed how distasteful
and how awful sin was there that He caused the Son to refuse to
sign. Darkness came over that awful sin, showing how awful
God views sin and His severity towards it. But yet at the same
time, it says there in verse 45, and the veil was rent from
top to bottom down the midst. So he covered this earth in darkness
to show us his severity and his justice towards sin. But at the
same time, he split that veil, and it's about four inches thick,
four and a half inches thick, from top to bottom to show that
the way into the holiest of holies is now made manifest, made plain
through what Jesus Christ did. That hoist of holies, that place
behind the veil, it's opened up now. That sham religion's
all gone. No more priests, no more temples,
no more body-offering sacrifices. It's open. It's open. The darkness
shows his severity against sin. The veil is the way God made
through Christ's suffering into the holiest of holy through the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look with me in Hebrews 10,
and I'll show you what I mean, and I'll be done. Well, no, I've
got to say one more thing. Look here in Hebrews 10. Let
me show you this. You know, the way is open into
the new, into the holiest of holies. Hebrews 10.19. Hebrews 10, 19. Now he says this in verse 9, "...having
therefore breath and boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus." We get to go behind the veil, the veil
in glory itself. We get to go into the breasts
of God. How? Through the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, listen, it's by new and
living way. The other way, you got through
by sacrifice, being offered, and somebody else offering. Now
it's a new way, it's a living way, always living, open, which
He hath consecrated, set apart, and sanctified us through the
veil that is His flesh, made this way into the holiest of
holy, into the very presence of God Himself. Now, let me ask
you, make one more point, and I'm through. Stuck over in our
text, Luke 23. Luke 23. Oh, it's a place of
guilt, a place of compassion, a place of derision, a place of
salvation. Now it's also a place of death. He says in verse 46, And 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, gave up his spirit. He yielded up his life into his
father's hands. He cried with a loud voice. He's
in absolute and complete control here. And in becoming obedient
unto death, He abolished death. Death hath no more hold over
us. And being made sin, He put an end to sin. Here is life and
immortality, bright to light, through our Lord's death. Oh
my, everything that's necessary was done this day. For any man,
any woman, any sinner who says, I want him, I want what that
death accomplished. I want to hear him say, I say
unto thee, I say unto thee. And look what he says down here.
And look what happens now. The sight of this, seeing this,
this has caused men to glorify God. When you see this, you'll
glorify God too. Verse 37. When the centurion
saw what was done, he glorified God. If you see what was done
and what was accomplished, you'll glorify God too, saying, this
was a righteous man. And then look what else it done.
It caused men to smite the breast and all the people that came
together to that sight. It was a sight. Oh, what a sight
it was. The Lord of glory dying, being
crucified, mocked and derided, saving sinners while He's on
the cross. And they saw, beholding the things
which were done, Smoked their breast. Smoked their breast. And I tell you what, this will
make you smite your breast, because this is where the problems are.
You'll be like that publican, smiting your breast to say, God
be merciful to me, the sinner. The sinner. And I tell you what,
beloved, there were three that cried on Calvary that day. Three
people cried on Calvary that day. Christ died, I died with
Him, and the world died, too, to me. Did you die with Christ
that day? Huh? Did God let you see that? Do
you glorify God because of it? Huh?