What is today? It's the Lord's
Day. It is not Easter Sunday. And I'm here to tell you that
most religionists, all the way from the Catholics through to
the Mormons, most of them talk about Easter. How many of you believe that
Jesus Christ was in the grave three days and three nights? Amen. That's what the Bible says.
Well, it isn't taught by nearly all denominations today. He was not in the grave three
days and three nights, beginning with Catholicism right on through. So I want to expose something
today. I've been watching TV over the
last week or so, and I've seen so much, and I couldn't look
at it too long. The religious channels especially,
with all of their to-do about Easter and Christ on the cross. You know what I observed? What
I expected to observe. what little I've watched, what
I've observed for years. All the emphasis is on human
suffering. Listen closely, folks. Human
suffering. Even what you have seen and heard,
it all magnifies the human element of the cross. the physical element
of the cross, not what was actually accomplished, and nothing about
the soul pain, S-O-U-L, soul, soul suffering, which is far
greater than physical suffering. But I haven't heard of one mention
it, not a one. I'll begin by giving you an email
I received last week, short. And this is very up-to-date. A young girl was talking to her
teacher about whales, or great fish. How many of you
have seen it or heard it? Okay. A couple have. The teacher said it was physically
impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though they
were a large mammal, their throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah
was swallowed by a whale, the intelligent teacher, one with a lot of training and
education, but none from God. Are you listening? She said, you say that Jonah was swallowed
by a whale? The teacher reiterated that a
whale could not swallow a human. It was impossible. That's not all the story. The
little girl said, when I get to heaven, I'm going to ask Jonah. The teacher asked, what if Jonah
went to hell? The little girl looked at her
teacher and replied, then you ask him. Boy, that couldn't be better
stated. That could not be better stated. Let me ask you this question.
How many of you believe that the word Easter is in the original
manuscripts. Nobody will show your hand, evidently
you don't believe the word Easter. Well, it is in the King James
Version. The word Easter is found in Acts
12 and verse 4. The Greek word is Pascha. Pascha. And Pascha is used 29
times in the New Testament and it is never translated Easter. It's always Passover. Passover. One of the Jewish rites. So Ishtar, I-S-T-H-A-R, one of the titles of a Babylonian
queen of heaven, and worshipped by some of the children of Israel. But don't forget, it's Pascha.
Passover, never Easter. Nothing about Easter bunnies,
nothing about Easter eggs. You see how people just fall
for anything today? If it has a religious connotation. I remember in my Christian life,
and especially my ministerial life, I began to ask myself questions
about some of these things. And, as I did, I couldn't find an answer when
I started looking. People won't discuss it. I had
a difficult time finding something other than what the Bible has
to say about it. But when I got into the Greek,
it didn't take me long to come to the truth. Open your Bibles this morning
for our scripture reading. Matthew 12, verses 38 through
42. Matthew 12, beginning with verse
38. Listen closely, folks. This will
be very simple. We'll get into some very serious
things. but we'll try to state it as
simply as we possibly can. Then some of the scribes and
Pharisees answered him, that is Christ, saying, Teacher, we
want to see a sign from you. Well, America is really thriving
today on the philosophy of the charismatics.
which is a heretical, a heretical teaching. They depend on signs. Word of God is not sufficient.
They know nothing about the scriptures that they did. They wouldn't
believe and practice what they believe and are practicing. These Jews, These religionists
of Christ's time. Teacher, we want to see a sign
from you. Verse 39. But he answered and
said to them, an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign. As that was true then, it is
true today. And yet no sign shall be given
to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was three days
and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall
the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth. Stop there for a moment before
we read any further. More than 90% of the religionists
of America believe that Christ died on Good
Friday and was raised early Sunday morning. How do you get three days and
three nights out of that? How do you get... See, this is
a question that came to my mind just as a newborn Christian when
I read it for myself. I'd listen to preachers and read
material that didn't register with me. I couldn't harmonize
it with what the book says. Christ did not die on Friday. You know when he died? What day
of the week it was that he died? It was on Wednesday. On Wednesday evening. And when did he rise from the
dead? At the end of the Sabbath, which is Saturday, as it began
to dawn toward the first day of the week. That's what the
record says. Now, I want to show you what
you have to do, though. I just want to give you an example
of it when you get into the study of it. I brought one of my Bibles
with me that I've done all of this work in. this particular
Bible because it's so controversial. In order to do justice to this
subject, you got to study all accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, you have to harmonize them. So I have a chart and I
worked this up many years ago. Four pages in a chart here of
all the passages dealing with the subject in order to harmonize
it. Tremendous study. I spent weeks
doing it, probably months over a long period of time, not just
studying this one particular subject, but other subjects along,
but this was the central thing in my mind until I settled it. All right, notice now, let's
read verse 39 again. But he answered and said to them,
and even an adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no
sign shall be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For
just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster,
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth. Did he tell the truth or not? Did Christ know what he was talking
about? Not according to religionists
today. They'd say, he just didn't explain
it like we're explaining it. Who's the teacher? Folks, I'm
telling you, Christ is the teacher. And we, his creatures, are to
be taught. We're not to teach him. All right, let's look at verse
41. The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation
at the judgment and shall condemn it because they repented at the
preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater
than Jonah is here. The queen of the south shall
rise up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn
it. because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon. And behold, something greater
than Solomon is here. Let's go ahead and read through
verse 45. So when the unclean spirit goes
out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest
and does not find it. Then it says, I will return to
my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds it
unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes
along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself. And they go in and live there.
And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.
That is the way it will also be with this evil generation. And folks, that will be true
with this generation as we see. I tried to think through this
quite a bit this past week in preparing for the lesson today. My introduction will be a message
within itself. Religionists, not only in Christ's
time, but in our time as well, should have learned from Matthew
chapter 12, 38 through 42. to stop trying to convince the
lost to come to Christ on the basis of religious pageants. Are you with me? On the basis
of religious pageants and their intellectual arguments. I should say their so-called
intellectual arguments. You know what religionists are
doing today? They think they're smarter than the Bible. I'm going to prove that before
I get through. They really think they're smarter
than the Bible. They think they know how to reach
people better than the apostles reached people. how to win the lost, how to attract
them, get their attention. Christian evidences are important
in Christian education, and no one believes that any stronger
than I do. But this is something that follows
and does not precede regeneration. Are you with me? I'm like that
colored fella now. Are you with me? Christians call these manifestations
growth in grace and knowledge of Christ. 2 Peter 3.18 1 Peter
2.1-9 2 Peter 3, 18, grow in grace and
knowledge of the Lord Jesus. 1 Peter 2, beginning with verse
1 through 9, as newborn babies, we desire the sincere milk of
the word in order that we may grow thereby. It doesn't take
me long to decide whether a person is a Christian or not. Does he
desire the things of God? Does he desire the message of
God? Is he anxious to be taught? Is he searching the scriptures? Or does he want to see pageants
and be entertained and to have the flesh coddled? If that's the case, he doesn't
know the Lord I know. And what has happened to them
is not what happened to me when I was regenerated. I began with
a thirst for righteousness. I began with a hunger for the
Word of God. And folks, what I'm saying is
scripture. This is biblical, every statement
I'm making. I desire the things of God, not
the things that please the flesh. How foolish of religionists to
think they can bring evidence of the death, burial, and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ in a more convincing manner by their performances
in pageantry. I get angry. I turned across
TBN the other night. Boy, that's all you can see on
TBN right now. Pageantry. It's very expensive
to put on, I assure you that. Very expensive. They don't count
the cost. They think they're reaching people. They're not
reaching people for the Lord. They're reaching people for themselves. Begging money. Folks, I've never
begged money out of anybody. If you don't give it because
you want to, keep it. God doesn't need it and doesn't want it.
And I don't either. Just that simple. But they're money grabbers. Prosperity
religion. That's what you hear today. Prosperity
religion. In fact, I have a little booklet.
I won't take time to refer to it. I brought it with me, but
I don't want to take the time. Prosperity religion. Got through
the mail yesterday. And what scriptural text do they
use? Whatever you ask for believing,
you shall receive. Whatever you desire, you shall
receive. What does the Christian desire,
folks? What the Christian desires is
not what the religionist desires. So the sad fact is that performances,
watch this, are more fashionable in this apostate age in which
we live than the proclamation of the Word inspired Word of
God. I saw that many years ago coming
and I've lived long enough to witness it over and over again. I want to give you this example. not only from the Old Testament,
but from the New Testament as well. Turn with me to the 33rd
chapter of Ezekiel. 33rd chapter of Ezekiel's prophecy. You have Jeremiah, you have Ezekiel. This one is one of the major
Old Testament prophets. I'd like to begin reading with
you at verse 28 and read through verse 33. Don't think for a second that
Jeremiah and Ezekiel did not have their problems proclaiming
God's message. And I shall make the land a desolation
and a waste. God speaking through Ezekiel.
And the pride of her power will cease, and the mountains of Israel
will be desolate, so that no one will pass through. Then they
will know that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation
and a waste, because all their abominations which they have
committed. But as for you, Son of man, your
fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls. Now notice
what he's saying to Ezekiel. This is God speaking to Ezekiel.
So look at the 30th verse again at the beginning. But as for
you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by
the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another,
each to his brother saying, come now and hear what the message
is which comes from the Lord. Now notice the next three verses.
What a lesson. They shall come to you as people
come. and they sit before you as my
people. But they do the lustful desires
expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes away after their
gain. Verse 32, and behold, you are
to them like a sensual song. Boy, that's pretty straight,
isn't it? By one who has a beautiful voice
and plays well on an instrument, for they hear your words, but
they do not practice them. Verse 33, so when it comes to
pass, as surely it will, then they will know that a prophet
has been in their midst. I'd like to mention three things
from this passage before we go any further. They were enchanted by what they heard, but unchanged. enchanted but unchanged. That's going on every Lord's
Day. They may treat the messenger with respect, but they have no
respect for the naked truth of God. And folks, I preached a lot of
people like that. Secondly, when you look at these
people in this passage described by Ezekiel, they were sympathetic,
but sinful. Sympathetic, but sinful. The
word, like the echoes of a song, Beautiful song. Fade away in
the distance. You hear the song, and the song
fades away in the distance. And they're just like they were
before they heard the song. Finally, you'll also notice there
was public conformity. They came, they sat, they listened,
but they didn't perform. There was no change. So, public
conformity, but private criticism. Private criticism. And don't think for a moment
that Ezekiel was not criticized by the religionists. So was Jeremiah. They suffered greatly. Same was
true with the apostles. The same has been true with every
true man of God. I'm not through with the introduction
to this. Note, please, that the religious Pharisees continued,
talking about Matthew 12, continue with their plan to murder
Jesus Christ, Are you with me? Subsequent to all the evidence
that they gave and that was given even by the Lord himself. I want that to soak in. This
is right to the point, folks. So I again state that the religious
Pharisees continued with their plan to murder Jesus Christ,
subsequent to all the evidence that Christ had given and all
that they had heard by others. He left them concerning his death
on behalf of the elect. He left them with that message. In his message on the day of
Pentecost, let's look at Peter for a moment. Turn, if you will,
please, to the book of Acts 22. Let's read verses 22 through
24. Let me prove the point. Peter did not exhort Israel to
look at this pageant. But he told them to listen to
the words which he spoke. Now, let's listen to these three
verses. Men of Israel, listen to these
words. Don't look at the pageant or
a play. all these eye-catching things,
just listen with your ear. Men of Israel, this is how Peter
started in that famous sermon of the day of Pentecost. Listen
to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested
to you by God, watch this, with miracles and wonders and signs
which God performed through him in your midst. just as you yourselves
know. This man, more than man, the
God-man, the eternal Son of God, assuming human nature in order
that he might die on behalf of the elect. This man, delivered up by the
determined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross
by the hands of godless men and put him to death. And God raised
him up, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was
impossible for him to be held in its power. What a message,
folks. What a message. Only those who have been regenerated
can see it. Only the regenerated can feel
its power when it's given. The unrepentant Jews required
a sign in the face of a mountain of evidence. Don't forget the
words that we read beginning with verse 38. They wanted a
sign. Religionists today want a sign. Well, the Lord will let them
see one. The Lord and his providence will let them see just what they
want to see. Christ emphatically told them
that the only sign they deserve, watch this, was the sign of Jonah's
unbelief. Think that one through. Jonah
was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish because
of unbelief. The Lord was saying that because
of Israel's unbelief, he would spend three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth. That which subsequently followed
confirmed that Christ would spend the same length of time in the
grave because Israel would kill the Prince of Life, the King
of the Jews. What a message. All the pageants and movies about
Easter make no, they make as much sense, I should say, as
Christ dying on Good Friday and rising from the dead early Sunday
morning. Easter is a human invention. And I'll tell you when it was
invented. I thought I had the date down here. I think I'll
just trust my memory. It was five something, I think
about 517 AD by the Catholic Church. The unrepentant Jews required
a sign, but the Lord gave them the only sign He was going to
give them, and He stated it in no uncertain terms. So Easter
is a human invention that has had a destructive influence. The dictionary Not the Bible. Here's the definition of Easter.
As an annual Christian festival in commemoration of the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. That's what the dictionary says.
Do religionists see a commonality? Watch this. Do religionists see
a commonality between an Easter egg Stay with me. Or an Easter bunny and the resurrection of our Lord. How foolish can people be? How
easily led people can be led? That makes as much sense as a
day and one half means three days and three nights. One makes
as much sense as the other. Oh, but I know what a lot of
people say, and I don't think you will, but if you will, I
hope it gets back to me real soon so we can part company.
And part company we will. years ago when I'd preach like
this and say some things, not as hard as I'm saying this morning,
not as firm because my conviction is much greater now than it was
then, but how they would criticize
the manner in which he preached on Easter Sunday. I remember
one time I caused a real uproar on Mother's Day. I asked the
people, I said, Well, what's the day? Some of them said, Mother's
Day. I said, I thought it was the Lord's Day. Mother's Day. And they sure talk against you.
If they can't disprove what you're saying, let me tell you what
they will say. It's a manner in which he does
it. Folks, I want you to know, when I know the truth, I'm going
to say it. I don't care how hard it is. And the only people it
will offend, watch it, because it may offend some of you. I
hope not. But you will identify yourself.
Maybe not publicly, but sooner or later you will. It's not what
he says, but it's the manner in which he says it. That isn't
it. That's just an excuse. They don't
like what I said. Read your Bible. you'll find
an answer to all these things. Human nature doesn't change.
The only thing that changes the actions of people who possess
a human nature as well as the divine nature is the grace of
God. So the common reply to three
days and three nights of Matthew 12 and verse 40 is that if this
is literal and not an idiom, watch this, those who apply thus
believe it is an idiom. And let me explain to you the
meaning of an idiom, an expression whose meaning cannot be derived
from its constituent elements like this, a kick, the bucket,
in the sense of to die. And it means any part of three
days and three nights. Listen to this closing question. If their idea is true, how could
the resurrection occur the second night? You figure it out. Make you a
chart. Where is the third night? So out of the 29 occurrences
of the Greek word Pascha in the New Testament, the only time
I'm acquainted with that the word being translated Easter
is the King James Version, which a lot of people believe is inspired. So the next time you find somebody
like that, ask them about Easter. That'd be a good way to start.
If he can't answer that, then you've got him. You've got him
or her. Easter, therefore, is a human
invention. that he had a pernicious or destructive
and has had a pernicious and destructive influence on many
people. When religious people try to make truth more palatable,
they succeed in devitalizing it by exchanging truth for falsehood. How does that grab you? Religionists have tried to either
alter God's mercy. Watch this. We'll make an application
now. I said religionists have tried
to either alter God's mercy so as to make it partly meritorious
or lower His justice in His righteous demands. correspond
with their imperfect disobedience. Scripture teaches that on one
side is the just judge. On one side is the just judge. And on the other side is the
condemned guilty sinner. Now stay with me for a moment.
I want to show you something. Let's make an application of it. When sinners receive their just
due, their just due, there will be no mercy. If you and I got
what we deserve, we would all be in hell this very moment. And if you don't understand that,
you don't even understand grace. The death of Christ provided
for truth and mercy to meet. Truth and mercy to meet. Therefore, in Christ's sacrifice
of Himself, Truth has been honored to the very letter. Christ has done what we could
not do. He accomplished what we could
never accomplish as depraved people. And furthermore, TRUTH HAS BEEN HONORED BY THE
HOLY LAW BEING EXECUTED, AND MERCY EXTENDING TO YOU AND ME
AS A RESULT OF JUSTICE BEING SATISFIED. Now, folks, they talk
about Christ dying, and all of this humanism, and He did suffer
physically. No human being ever suffered
like he did. But remember this, he, like you,
was a tripartite being. What goes further than that?
We'll not get too far into this particular point this morning
because that needs to be discussed all by itself, except to say, when Jesus Christ assumed the
human nature, He did not leave His Godhood
behind. He did not become less than He
always has been. Even His human nature was not
contaminated with depravity. His human nature is called that
holy thing, Luke 1.35, talking about His human nature. He not only did not sin, He could
not sin. Not only was He never tempted,
He could not be tempted. James 1, 13-15. He was the spotless Lamb of God. But he assumed a human nature,
the likeness of sinful flesh, Romans 8.3. Notice the terminology. We're talking about Christ's
hypostatic union. And I want to emphasize what
he suffered. He had a human body, he had a
human soul, and he had a human spirit. He suffered not only in his body,
he suffered in his soul. And folks, suffering oftentimes
is much greater in a person's soul than the suffering he endures
in the flesh. And he suffered. Don't forget
Isaiah 53. So I'm just throwing a few of
these things in to illustrate my point. When He satisfied justice,
He provided a righteousness that could be put to your account
and mine and the account of every individual the Father gave to
the Son in eternity, that is, before the foundation of the
world. Our sins were imputed to Him. And he paid for them. You say,
well, he paid for the sins of the world. No. You mean every
individual without exception? If that's the case, then no one
is going to hell. And there are people already
in hell. Why don't people deal with these
things? Why don't they show the people what the scriptures really
teach? If they would really preach the
truth a few Sundays, they wouldn't have enough people in the average
church today to pay for the light bill. Did you know that? I know what I'm talking about.
I've had 60 years experience of it. So, His righteousness, the righteousness
He wrought out at Calvary. by virtue of the hypostatic union. He couldn't touch me and touch
God at the same time. And as the mediator between God
and men, he's the God-man. And folks, I'm here to tell you
this morning, when he assumed the human nature, and he is now
in his glorified human nature, You and I will be in our glorified
human natures when we see Him face to face. Nothing in the
scriptures about you seeing the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's
invisible. Nothing about seeing God the
Father. But we'll see Him, that is Christ,
who became one with us. stood in our place at Calvary,
suffered for our sins, paid the price, justice has been satisfied. And what a terrible suffering
it was. All of the sins of God's people
imputed to Him, to His account, and He paid for them at Calvary. No wonder the father turned from
the son. And the son said, and the Bible
speaks about being forsaken. The forsaken one, he was suffering
soul torture. So when I see these fellows,
I think it's a mockery, folks. Let me really say something. In fact, I detest it. How many
of you? Is there a man in the church
that's born and would like to play the part of Christ, they
put you up on a, strip you off and just put a waist, something
around your waist and put you up there and put blood on you
or something red, let you play the part of Christ? Who would
be idiot enough to play the part of Christ? What about Mary? When I see these
silly people being in all these churches today, hope we can get
somebody to play the part of Mary and somebody to play the
part of Jesus, and they use the word Jesus all the time. Is that what it means to you?
You don't have any idea. You have no, absolutely no concept
of the hypostatic union of Christ. So I don't like to look at the
junk because it gives me the wrong impression. I can read
the book and the scriptures tell me more than the actions of these
people and these pageants and all that junk. You say you're wound up, I am.
I don't deny it. And if I can't wind you up, then
we don't need to be wound together. I mean that in as passionately
a way as I can say it. The refutation of Easter is something
that really needs to be before our minds. The religious celebration
time called Easter is as far removed from the scriptures as
Christmas. The religious world claims that
Jesus Christ was crucified and buried on Good Friday and rose
early Sunday morning. However, there are not three
days and three nights included in their claim. I'd like to give
you some questions. Number one, was Christ in the
grave three days and three nights? You can answer that. Is there only one Sabbath? You
know why they make the mistake they do, and they're not willing
to study it? There's more than one Sabbath.
There is the High Sabbath. And the High Sabbath, the week
of our Lord's crucifixion, was on Thursday. And the preparation
day for that High Sabbath, feast. Feast day. Preparation for it
was on Wednesday and it was on the day of preparation that Jesus
Christ died for you and me. Another question, is the Greek
word for Sabbath singular or plural? In most places it's plural
and they treated it as though it's singular. And I can work
all this out for you. In fact, I've got almost 40 pages
in a document. I don't know if I'll finish it
and proofread it and all and run it off for you or not, but
you might want it, but I'll let you want it. I can't be doing
a lot of these things that you would like. Another question,
is Easter a biblical word? Did you know the average church
member today, if you were to ask, is Easter a Biblical word? I venture to say that nine, probably
90 people out of 100 would say it is a Biblical word because
it's in Acts 12, 4. And then ask them to get their
Greek text, and if they can find Pascho, meaning Passover. And it's not used in any other
sense other than Passover. Was Christ crucified on Good
Friday? The answer is no. What Sabbath is mentioned in
John 20 and verse 1? Matthew 28, 1. Mark 16, 1. And Luke 24, 21. But let me ask you another question.
What Sabbath is mentioned in John 19, 31? Not the same Sabbath, but it's
Paschal. If, according to the theory of
the average assembly member today, our Lord arose at the end of
the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,
which was early Sunday morning, it's true, Jesus Christ would
not have been in the grave three days and three nights, or a total
of 72 hours. The Jews reckon the day as evening
and morning. Not morning and evening. We think
about a day morning and evening. That's not the Jewish concept.
If you don't believe that, go back and read Genesis 1-5. It's
evening and the morning with the first day. Evening and the
morning. At the end of the weekly Sabbath,
the weekly Sabbath is Saturday. By the way, Friday, because this
man doesn't work on Saturdays, it's a seventh day Adventist.
He's a good air conditioner man, I had him come do some work on
my air conditioner. And he came Friday. I said, Francis, his
name is Francis France. Francis Frank, excuse me, Francis
Frank. I said, Francis has a tremendous
personality. And really happy with his work
and his church. He's a Sabbath teacher. So I
knew that Francis claimed to be a Sabbath teacher. So I was
out there with him for a little while, and I said, Francis, I
want to ask you a question while you're doing this. I said, this
is Easter time, according to religionists. I said, what is
your concept about it? He looked at me. I said, most
everyone who goes to church somewhere, he believes that Christ died
on Friday. and was buried at the end of
Friday. It began to dawn toward the first
day, that is the Sabbath rest, weekly Sabbath. And he was raised
at the end of the Sabbath. He said, yeah. And so they make
it just a part, a portion of 3-D. He said, that's what I believe. I said, do you? Yes. And so then I started asking
some questions. He said, in one of the few minutes
he said, I've got to study that. I said, it would be well that
you would. I hope you do study it. I hope he studied something
else. Just besides that. The time of Christ's death and
burial was at the time of the preparation of the Passover.
Proof of this is John 19, 14. 1914. The Paschal Supper was on the
eve of the festival itself. Look at John 13, verse 1. Now
before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour
was come, that He should depart out of this world unto the Father,
having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto
the end. Now after the Paschal Supper,
the Lord told the disciples to buy what they needed in order
to prepare for the feast, John 13, 29. The word feast is italicized. The feast day was a Sabbath.
Therefore, it was a day when trading was unlawful, according
to the Jews. The Passover, which the Jews
themselves refused to defile by entering the judgment hall,
was not the Paschal Supper, John 18, 28. It was at the feast when
the governor released a prisoner. Watch this. John 18.39, Matthew
27.15, Mark 15.16, and Luke 23.17. And you see the harmony of the
Gospels. The preparation of the Passover
preceded the Passover itself. Look at John 19.14. And it was
the preparation of the Passover and about the sixth hour. And
he saith unto the Jews, Behold your king. So the Lord Jesus
was crucified on the day of the preparation preceding the Passover. There it is, folks. But do you see the tremendous
study you have to do in order to see the truth of it? Well,
the Lord did that on purpose, because God's people will find
the truth. And religionists will just go on and accept anything
and anybody hands them. I can't give you all the information
that I have here, so I'll give a few more thoughts and we'll
be dismissed. Jesus Christ was crucified in
the afternoon of Wednesday, which was at the time of the offering
of the evening sacrifice. I want to show you how this all
harmonizes with the Old Testament types. Folks, the Bible is so
beautiful when it's put together and you see it all together properly.
It takes a lot of work and a lot of time. The Lord Jesus was crucified
at the time of the offering of the evening oblation, which was
at three in the afternoon. This was on Wednesday, the day
of the preparation. The custom of the Jews was that
one should not hang on the cross on the Sabbath, whether it was
the weakest Sabbath or the high Sabbath. Therefore he was crucified. You remember when they came to
break his legs and they found that he was dead already? That
was at the very close of the end of the afternoon, close to
six o'clock. So he was taken out and buried just before the
beginning of the next day. That is the High Sabbath on Thursday. And he was there three full days
and three full nights. I'd like to make a big chart
and show you how simple it is when you put it all together. There are six contrasts between
Matthew's and Mark's account. Now here's where you have to
do the greatest amount of study. You'll have no problem in Luke
or you'll have any in John. It all just harmonizes. Number
one, the first contrast, Matthew mentioned an earthquake. Mark
said nothing about an earthquake. Number two, Matthew talked about
a guard left to guard the sepulcher. Mark made no mention of a guard. Three, Matthew mentioned two
women. Mary added the third, Salome,
to the two Marys. Four, Matthew talked about an
angel outside the sepulcher. Mark spoke of a young man within. The women, in Matthew's account,
did not enter. They, in Mark's account, DID
enter. Now see, that'd be confusing
to a person, a person who's not a Christian, doesn't have an
analytical mind, doesn't have a spiritual mind, he wouldn't
understand any of this. I know what I'm talking about
because one cold winter when we had so much rain like we had
this last winter, As a boy, and I was the baby of the family
and at home by myself with my mother and dad, and I read everything
I could find reading that was readable in the house, and certainly
couldn't go nine miles to a library and try to find some books. We
didn't have transportation. So I decided, well, I'll read
the Bible. I was about 13, 14. I started reading, I said, I'll
just read the Bible through. I started with Genesis 1-1. That
wasn't too bad. Genesis 2 and Genesis 3. Then
when I got over to Genesis 5, so-and-so begot so-and-so and
lived so many years and died, so-and-so begot so-and-so. Boy,
I just wanted to, whew, my head began to swim. I said, so I read
through about 7th or 8th chapter before I got to the Noah's Flood.
I decided this is too much for me. Too much for me. I wanted a Zane
Grey book that I might read. You ever heard of Zane Grey?
I had read a few of them. Oh, I longed for, I said, I could
understand Zane Grey. But since I was regenerated,
I haven't found any book, even the books that men write, and
good books, that will take the place of THE book, which I have
here, the Bible. Number six, the women saw the
risen Christ in Matthew's account. They did not see Him in Mark's
account. Isn't that something? See, Mark
just didn't mention those things. It wasn't necessary. There's
a purpose in it. The difference between the two gospel writers'
accounts necessitates a study. Folks, I said a study. I didn't
say a glimpse. You know, I can go into my study
now, get in an interesting subject. and a morning will be gone, and
I think I've only been there about 30 minutes. If you want time to hurry up
and flee and pass by so you can be with the Lord, study the Bible
every minute you have at home. It won't be long, you'll be there.
Time flies, folks. I've got too much to give here.
About eight sheets there that I'm not gonna try. I think you're convinced. Let me take a little time and
read you a little bit more of this article. Changing the subject. But it's, I want you to see what this man,
this preacher, has done. Now.