Turn back with me, if you will, please, in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 27. As we study from this passage of scripture, which speaks to us of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, I almost feel like I should say, let's take off our shoes, for we're on holy ground.

Thinking about the crucifixion of God's dear son. Thinking about the fact that men love darkness rather than light. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is the light of this world, came into this world. Men love darkness rather than light. And we see what men did. and crucifying the Savior. In this account, as it is given in the gospel according to Matthew, there are five things that have been called by these names, miracles, wonders, phenomenon. I'm going to point them out to us, but men have looked at this and said, here's five. Five things associated with the crucifixion of Christ.

The first one is darkness over all the land in verse 45. Darkness over all the land from the sixth hour unto the ninth hour. The second one is down in verse 51 when he cried Again, with a loud voice, yielding up the ghost, and behold, the veil of the temple was rent and twain from the top to the bottom. The third one is also found in that verse, verse 51, the last part of it, an earthquake.

The earth did quake, and the rocks rent. Fourth thing, graves were opened. Golgotha, called the Place of a Skull, was a place where many were buried. Many were not even buried. Their bodies were just left there at that place to deteriorate. The Place of a Skull. But when the Lord Jesus Christ died that day, The graves, many of the graves were opened. And then the fifth thing, three days later, three days later, many out of these graves appeared and went into the city of Jerusalem. Five wonders, five miracles.

I'm going to divide my message into two equal parts of three hours each because that's how long the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, six hours. And they're divided into two parts. The six hours are divided into two parts, the first three hours and the second three hours. So let's look first of all at the first three hours of his crucifixion.

Now Matthew, he only tells us in verse 33 that when they came to Golgotha that they crucified him. That is to say a place of a skull. And here they crucified him according to verse 35. And they crucified him. But Mark, in his gospel account, his narrative, he tells us it was the third hour and they crucified him. So his crucifixion began at 9 a.m. and it ended at 3 p.m. Six hours the Lord Jesus Christ suffered upon the cross of Calvary.

But as I said, we're going to divide these six hours into two parts, three hours each. And the first part, the first three hours, has been called a very busy time. A very busy time. Because let me remind us of what took place in these first three hours. Things that we are told as we consider all the gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

During these three hours, the soldiers nailed him to the cross, and then they sat down to watch him. Now, their purpose of being there mainly was to make sure that no one attempted to take his body down from the cross to rescue him from crucifixion. But they spent their time, as we know, mocking the Lord, and also gambling. They were gambling, casting lots for his clothes, his garments.

That took place during the first three hours. The second thing that took place, we know that the chief priests, they were with Pilate. Pilate, as vacillating as he had been, as he dealt with the Lord Jesus Christ and these Jewish leaders, once he wrote what he wrote to be placed over the cross of Christ. Remember, this is what he had written, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. And the priest, they didn't want that there. And so they dealt with Pilate trying to convince him to write rather He said, he said, I am the king of the Jews.

And Pilate was firm now. We have to see the hand of God in this, don't we? In all of this. But Pilate now has a backbone. Before he didn't, he knew Christ was innocent and had been delivered because of the envy and jealousy of the high priest. But now he has a backbone. What I have written, I've written. In other words, he's not going to change what was above the cross.

But they spent their time not only dealing with Pilate, the chief priest and elders, but they also took part in mocking him. You notice in verse 42, it is the chief priest, verse 41, likewise also the chief priest mocking him with the scribes and elders said, he saved others, himself he cannot save.

Then we read there were some who just pass by, passers by. That's what Matthew said. They just pass by, verse 39, they pass by. But as they pass by, and this was in a very public place where many would see, many would pass by and coming and leaving Jerusalem. But many that pass by, they wag their heads at him and mocked him.

Thou that destroyest the temple in three days and raise it in three days, save thyself if thou be the Son of God. Come down from the cross. And then think of this, the Lord Jesus in these last three hours, he was suffering. suffering such pain associated with the crucifixion. But yet during this time, he also interceded for those who crucified him.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. What a wonderful truth comes home to the heart of every child of God when we realize that we have the same Jesus of Nazareth, glorified at the Father's right hand, making intercession for us today. Father, forgive them. And we know that prayer was answered. You say, when? On the day of Pentecost.

On the day of Pentecost, there were 3,000 saved. And in the 3,000, no doubt, many of those who were around The cross, witnessing and taking part in the crucifixion, were forgiven that day. He also, during this first three hours, took time to commend his mother to his disciple John, to take her to his house, which we know that he did. And then, we can never forget, that it was during these first three hours that he saved one of his greatest trophies of grace.

You notice there in verse 44 we read the thieves also, thieves. There were two thieves who were being crucified, one on either side. They were being crucified for the robberies or the crimes which they were guilty of. And we see God's sovereign grace sometime in that three hours, giving one of those criminals an interest in the things of God, giving him an interest in his own soul, salvation, and rebuking that other thief, confessing we are suffering justly for what we have committed, but not this man, and then asking, when thou comest into thy kingdom, remember me. Remember me. And our Lord speaking to him, verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. I was preparing these notes and thinking about that thief that the Lord saved. Who cannot see sovereign grace there?

A blind man could see that. His two men, both of them, when they were nailed to the tree, were railing upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet God SAVED ONE OF THEM. GOD SAVED ONE OF THEM. HE DIDN'T SAVE HIMSELF. GOD SAVED HIM. AND THAT'S TRUE OF YOU. IF YOU'RE SAVED HERE THIS MORNING, YOU'RE SAVED BECAUSE GOD SAVED YOU. GOD PURPOSED TO SAVE YOU BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN. God wrote your name down before your mother or father ever had any idea what they would name you. God named you in the Lamb's Book of the Life and wrote your name there.

Who cannot see God's sovereign grace here in this man? He never joined a church. He was never baptized, and yet he entered heaven immediately. He didn't have to progressively get better over years. No doubt if he had lived, he would have grown in grace and knowledge of the Lord, as all of God's people do.

But what I'm saying is that immediately Immediately through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, this man was fitted for the presence of God. Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. But as I said, as I was preparing these notes, I thought surely one of the first times that I ever preached from that account I remember reading these words.

I can't quote them word for word, I'm sure, but Matthew Henry, his comment on the thief who was saved. He saved one. He saved one that none should despair, but only one that none should presume. And isn't that like man? Presuming, well, I'll wait. Tomorrow, when I'm on my deathbed, baby, that's when I'll seek the Lord. That's when I'll get serious about this matter of facing God. No, remember these two. They were both in the same place at the end of their lives in this world, and only one of them sought the Lord. Only one of them asked for mercy and received mercy. What a lesson, right? What a lesson.

You may be here today, and that may be in your mind. You may be a young person or an older person, and you may think, well, before I come to the end of my life, First of all, you don't know when you're going to come to the end of your life. You may not get home to eat Sunday lunch today, none of us. But when I come to the end of my life, this may be in your mind, Satan might put it there, I'm going to seek the Lord. Well, here's two men and only one of them sought the Lord. God's sovereign grace.

So those first three hours, much took place. It was a busy time. But now I want us to turn to the last three hours, beginning in verse 45, the last three hours. Now from the sixth hour, that's noon, From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour, that is three o'clock. What marks these three hours? If you read the accounts in the Gospels, what marks these last three hours? I've told you several things that mark those first three hours. But what marks these last three hours?

Silence. Silence. God, as it were, turned out the light. The time that the sun is at its height, at noon, God turned out the light. Just as easy for God to do that as for us tonight. When we go to our beds, we'll go over maybe and flip the switch or turn off the lamp. Just that easy. God Almighty who created the light, who created this world, he flipped the switch and light or darkness descended over all the land.

We know this was not a solar eclipse for two reasons at least. First of all, we know it wasn't a solar eclipse because Passover always occurs during a full moon. You never have a solar eclipse during a full moon. It always takes place in a new moon. And a second reason we know this wasn't an eclipse is because it lasted for three hours. Usually a solar eclipse, you know, you're out there with those special glasses and you're looking and it's gone. No, this darkness lasted for three hours.

You say, could God do that? This wasn't the first time God had done something similar. You remember when Moses was in Egypt speaking to Pharaoh God said, let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me. Who is the Lord? Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? That was a response Pharaoh made, wasn't it? Who is the Lord that I, the mighty monarch that I am, should obey your God? And God gave him a quick lesson, didn't he? Ten of those miracles, not only water turned to blood, but one was there was darkness in all the land of Egypt except in the houses of the Israelites. God had shut the light out, and that's what happened this day.

I think the best way to talk about this, I don't think it can be improved, are the words of Isaac Watts in his hymn that we sing sometimes at the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, where the burden of my sins rolled away. That second verse is, well might the sun in darkness hide. and shut his glories in when Christ, the mighty maker, died for man, the creature of sin. I said that silence marked these three hours, but it is a silence that speaks, a silence that speaks. William Hendrickson, one of the commentators, New Testament commentators that I read sometimes, he made this comment. I just never had heard it before, but he said, hell, hell came to Calvary that day. Think about that. Hell, separation from God, experience of wrath of God. Hell came to Calvary that day.

It did, didn't it? It surely did. I said silence speaks. Here are three testimonies that silence gives. First of all, it speaks of his death. This darkness does, or of his deity, rather. This darkness speaks of his deity. He confessed, and my father won, and when he did, they took up stones again to stone him.

These religious leaders previously had asked him for a sign from heaven. Show us a sign from heaven and we'll believe thee. We'll believe that you are the Messiah. Well, they got a sign this day. They got a sign from heaven this day. And it was such that even at the end of the passage there, even this Roman soldier trembling said, surely, surely this man is the son of God.

The silence speaks of his deity. And number two, this silence speaks of his mission. What did the Lord Jesus Christ say was his mission for coming into this world? He did not come to be ministered unto. He said, even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. and to give his life a ransom for many. He came to ransom those who would believe on him. He came to ransom those who were given unto him by the Father.

Our pardon, our peace, our eternal life. would only be secured through the blood of the Lord Jesus. And this darkness was, as it were, a sign of the words of John the Baptist, behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. And third, This darkness not only speaks of his deity, of his mission, but also of his sufferings. The darkness was God's testimony to the redemption accomplished by the blood of his son.

In a prophecy in Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 53, we are told, the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Now we usually understand that as the father when we read the Lord laid on him, that is the son, the eternal son, the God-man. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. And it was during this time of darkness that God's darling son was wounded. bruised, you read all this in Isaiah chapter 53, wounded, bruised, chastised, and beaten with stripes and all by his father.

It pleased the Lord to bruise him when he shall make his soul an offering for sin. What does that mean, it pleased the Lord It means simply that it is only through the sufferings of Christ, through His blood, through His death, that the Father was satisfied, the payment was made for the sins of His covenant people.

I encourage you sometime during this week, get along, get along somewhere. And imagine what it must have been like that day for those around that cross. All of the jeering and the mocking and all of that, all the noise that had taken place for three hours. And then when God turned out the light, there was a silence. What it must have been for those people there when near the very End of those last three hours, there was a voice they heard out of the darkness crying, my God, my God, why has Saul forsaken me? Can you imagine what it must have been like for those people there that day?

Forsaken of his comfort. The Lord Jesus, forsaken of his father's comfort, of his smile, which he had always enjoyed when he came into this world. But not forsaken of his love. Someone said one time, I'm not sure who said this first, but the father never loved him more. than he was here made the propitiation for the sins of his people. You know what that word propitiation means?

God is angry with the wicked. God's not indifferent to sin. He loves righteousness and hates iniquity, the scripture says. God's wrath. is against evil, sin, iniquity. And for his wrath to be appeased, if you please, there had to be a propitiation. And that's what the death of Jesus Christ is. John the Apostle wrote, herein is love. Not that we love God. We ought to love God. He's worthy of love. He deserves our love. John said that's herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Those there at the cross that day, they mistakenly thought that he cried for Elijah, and one of them, or some of them at least, ran and filled a sponge with that vinegar, that mixture that would somehow make the suffering kind of like a medicine you take, you know, for pain, would ease the pain, but the Lord Jesus would not take that. And then he cried one more time. with a loud voice. What did he cry that last time?

Three words, it is finished. Praise God, it is finished. The work which my father gave me to do, it is finished. For the joy that was set before him, He endured the cross, despising the shame. But now where is he? He sat down at the right hand of God on high.

Let me close this message today with these two truths. Let every saved individual here this morning, everyone who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, Let us thank God. Let us thank God in our hearts, even now, that he saved us from this darkness, which we know is a penalty of sin. And all of those who are here this morning who do not know Christ as your Lord and Savior, I want you to know that this darkness is awaiting you. This awful, eternal darkness is awaiting you if you leave this world without Christ as your Lord and Savior.

That's what you've got to look forward to. Think of how he suffered. He who is God and man. Think of how he suffered. What will it be for you? What will it be for the lost? Eternal darkness. One thing will be different. Around the cross, there was silence. Darkness? Yes. And silence. But eternity, eternal darkness, will not be a place of silence. But it will be a place where men will be calling upon God and cursing God and blaspheming God. It will be an awful, awful place of torment. Eternal darkness and eternal crying out. May the Lord, you see why I said at the beginning of my message, it seems like we ought to take our shoes off here. This is holy ground to talk and think about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Would he do that for me? Would he do that for you? Yes. Yes. Give thanks, give thanks that he loves you so much that he did not even spare his son. May the Lord bless this, this word. We're going to sing this hymn. It's not in our new book, and so we've got it printed out, but it, let not