All right, let's open our Bibles
again now to Mark 15. I want to pick up in my message
where Brother Bob left off. Mark chapter 15, verse 37 and
38. Let's repeat those two verses. And the Lord Jesus cried with
a loud voice and gave up the ghost, died. And the veil of
the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Now this particular veil in the
temple goes back to Moses. This is not the original veil.
The original veil was in the tabernacle. which was much smaller
than this temple. The tabernacle was erected in
the wilderness and the veil was something like 15 feet tall and
15 feet wide and about 4 or 5 inches thick. It stood between the holy
place and the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies in which the
high priest went once a year with the blood atonement which
he put on the mercy seat. for sins. Now, the temple Solomon
built, the veil was erected there, but it was 60 feet high. I don't
know how wide, but it was 60 feet high, 40 cubits, which is
18 inches of cubit. This is the rebuilt temple, and
the size of the veil here is the same. And the veil in the
temple was of great thickness. Now let me show you something
here. This is so interesting. It was made of fine twine linen
thread, six times double. I'm talking about the heaviness
of this veil, the thickness, the magnitude of it, just awesome. It was blue, purple, and scarlet. And the way one of the oldest
writers described it was this way. Lo, here are four sorts
of thread. Every thread, one of linen, three
of wool, but every thread six times double. And when they were
twisted together, made 24 doubles to a thread. And this veil in
the temple, 60 feet in height, and stood between the holy place
where the other priests put the bread and the candlesticks and
the altar of incense. But it stood between that holy
place and the Holy of Holies, behind which went the high priest
under the veil once a year with the blood of atonement. And when
our Lord died on that cross, this veil in the temple was torn
in two from the top to the bottom, rent completely in two, which
shows the fulfillment hour and the end to the priesthood of
Abram and the sons of Levi, an end to the ceremonial law, an
end to all the sacrifices And the way now to God was not by
the priest, not by the sacrifices, but the
way to God, the way to heaven, the way into the holiest, into
the presence of God's Shekinah glory, is now manifest plain
and clear and accessible to all who desire to come through the
precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who himself is our great
High Priest. Now let me show you, have you
turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. When our
Lord Jesus Christ, our Passover, our sacrifice, our sin offering,
said it's finished and gave up the ghost on that cross, that
veil immediately didn't have a rent in or a torn place in
it, it was literally sixty feet high, six stoves, torn in two,
as if God himself took hold of that veil and ripped it in two
from top to bottom. And now no longer do we have
a priest who kills an animal, which is a type in picture, and
go into that holy place. But now the way for every believer,
we're all priests. We're a holy priesthood, we're
royal priesthood. And we come before God ourselves.
He says, seeing that we have a great high priest who's passed
into the heavens, Jesus Christ our Lord, let us come boldly
before the throne of grace. Let us come that we may find
mercy and grace to help in time of need. And here in Hebrews
10, verse 9, he said, "...Lo, I come to do thy will, O God,
And he takes away the first, the first tabernacle, heat tabernacle
among us, the first priesthood, the first ark, mercy seat, atonement,
takes it away. Stablishes a second, by the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. You don't need to do it again.
You don't need to sacrifice again or offer a sacrifice again. Once and for all, we sanctify.
And every priest back in the Old Testament, standard daily
ministering, offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which could
never take away sin, they weren't given for that purpose. They
were given to show Christ and His sacrifice. But this man,
after he offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on
the right hand of God. Now read, look down at verse
18. So, where forgiveness, remission
is forgiveness. Where remission of these is,
verse 17 says, there are sins and iniquities where I remember
no more. So where forgiveness is, there's no more offering
for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus. You don't need someone else going
to Christ for you. Christ is our mediator. There's
one God and one mediator between God and me and the man Christ
Jesus. So we don't need another mediator,
another priest. We have a priest. And we come
boldly. Therefore, brethren, we have
boldness to enter into the holiest presence of God by the blood
of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he had consecrated
for us through that veil. That is to say, his flesh, his
death. He was made sin. And when he
died, ripped the veil in two. That's the end of the sacrifices.
Let me show you another scripture in Hebrews, chapter 12. I want to look at this for a
moment. Hebrews 12, verse 22. We're not come to Mount Zion. We are come to Mount Zion. We
are come unto Mount Zion and to the city of the living God.
We don't come to that mountain, Mount Sinai, we come to Mount
Zion, the City of the Living God, the heaven of Jerusalem,
to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly
of the Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven,
to God. We come to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of
just men made perfect, and to Jesus, listen, the mediator,
the surety of a new covenant, and the blood of Spranklin, that's
his blood, and speaketh better things than that of Abel. Now
see that ye refuse not him that speaketh, for if they escape
not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not
we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven."
Those folks that refused the prophets and those who spoke
on earth. Be careful we don't refuse him
who speaks from heaven. our Christ, our Lord, our Redeemer. Listen, verse 26, "...whose voice
then shook the earth. But now he hath promised, saying,
Yes, once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven too." And this word, yet once more,
signifying the removing of those things that are shaken, the removing of the Jewish state,
of the temple, of the ceremonies, of Moses and Abraham as our prophet
and priest, David as our king, Christ as our prophet, priest
and king. The removal of all those things made with hands
that pertain to worship. They served their day, they are
through, they are done, they are finished, they are gone.
They are gone. And this word yet once more signifying
the removing of those things that are shaken and of things
that are made, made with hands, that those things which cannot
be shaken shall remain. Have you run across that before?
Yep. Look in the Old Testament, in
the book of Haggai. It's the third from the last
book. Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Now, this is what he's saying.
God said, I shook the earth, I'm going to shake earth and
heaven. We're going to have a removal of those things that can be shaken
and an establishment of those things that can't be shaken.
The removal of those things that can be shaken, that are made
with hands and stood for a while, take them away. Or listen to
Haggai chapter 2, verse 5. And according to the word that
I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my spirit
remaineth among you, fear ye not. But thus saith the Lord
of hosts, yet once it is a little while, and I'll shake the heavens
and the earth, I'll shake the sea and the dry land, I'll shake
all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come. And I'll
fill this house with glory. with glory, saith the Lord of
hosts. The messenger of the covenant is coming to the temple. The
silver is mine, the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts, and
the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the
former, saith the Lord of hosts. And in this place will I give
peace, saith the Lord of hosts." All right. If they didn't survive,
wouldn't hear him that spake on earth, think how serious it
is not to hear him who speaks from heaven. Our God is a consuming fire. All right, let's look at verse
39. Verse 37 and 38, And Jesus cried with a loud voice, gave
up the ghost, and the veil and the temple was reddened, too,
from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who is
this? When the centurion was set over
against saw that he so cried out and truly gave up the ghost,
he said, truly this man was the Son of God, was the Son of God. Who is this centurion? Well,
he's the leader, and these are the soldiers who mocked our Lord
in the soldiers' hall. That's who they are. They're
around the cross. They're keeping anybody from
taking him down or him from escaping. They're guards around the cross.
You turn with me to Matthew 27, we'll see something else about
him. This centurion, Matthew 27, verse
54. Verse 54. Well, let's read verse 51. And behold, the veil of the temple
was rent entwined from the top to the bottom, and the earth
did quake. God said, I'll shake the earth, I'll shake the heavens,
I'll shake the sea, I'll shake the dry land. And the rocks rent,
and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which
slept arose, and came out of their graves after his resurrection,
went into the holy city, and appeared to many. Now, when the
centurion and they that were with him, the other soldiers,
watching Jesus saw the earthquake and those things that were done,
they feared greatly. These are the men that were guards
about the cross. They were the men who mocked
our Lord in the soldiers' hall. They saw the darkening of the
sun. They saw the renting of the rocks. They heard him with
a loud voice. Our Lord had suffered six hours
on that cross, so we and frail and dying and bleeding, I thirst. And yet, when this moment came,
it was finished. It's over. He cried with a voice
that impressed that soldier. Not the cry of a pitiful reformer
who'd been defeated, not the cry of a man whose purposes had
failed, but the cry of a conqueror, It's finished! It's finished. Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. And when he heard him cry with
that loud voice, that's what it says in Mark here, when the
centurion who stood over against him saw that he so cried out
and gave up the ghost, he said, and Matthew said he was afraid,
Did he have the bodily fear? No. Fear of punishment. Fear of retribution. He concluded
this was no ordinary person. But he didn't say he's the Messiah.
He said he was the Son of God. Now he is. He was the Son of
God. And listen to verse 40. And there
were also women looking on afar off. Among them Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James and Lillias and of Joseph, Salome,
who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him and ministered unto
him, and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.
I found this interesting. Go back to Psalm 38 and pick
up this Messianic Psalm a minute that talks about these people
who loved him. and others who loved our Lord,
like Mary and Martha and Mary Magdalene, out of whom he cast
seven devils. Psalm 38, verse 8, I am feeble, sore broken. I have roared by reason of the
disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desires before thee,
my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth, my strength
faileth. As for the light of mine eyes,
it also is gone from me. My lovers, those who love me,
and my friends stand aloof from my soul, and my kinsmen stand
afar off." You read that, and there were
also women looking on afar off, and these others afar off. They
were out there. watching this crucifixion. Turn to Luke, and let's see what
Luke says about these women. Luke 23. We're going to see some
more about them as we... This is so interesting. Luke
23, verse 48. Luke 23, 48. And all the people that came together
to that site, Luke 23, 48, Beholding the things which were done, smote
their breasts and returned. And all his acquaintance and
the women that followed him from Galilee stood afar off, beholding
these things." We'll come back to that in a minute. Look at
verse 42 in my text, Mark 15, verse 42. And now when the evening
was come, this was on Friday, our Lord had died, the veil was
rent in two. We see the picture of those who
loved him, these precious women and others standing way out afar
off. And now it was evening, Friday
evening. And because it was the preparation,
that is, the day before the Sabbath, now Sabbath's on Saturday, seventh
day of the week. This was Friday. And it's called
the Preparation Day. It's called the Preparation Day
because it's the preparation of the Passover, and it's the
preparation of food, and the preparation of all the other
things that were necessary for the Sabbath which were not lawful
to be done on the Sabbath. And so this is in the evening,
and it's the Preparation Day. Verse 43, Joseph of Arimathea. An honorable counselor, I want
you to listen to this, I want you to watch this man. An honorable
counselor, which also waited for the kingdom of God. Some
people think he was a priest. Some people think he was a member
of the Sanhedrin. We do know he was very high in Jewish circles,
and a scholar and a student of the scriptures, and a very, very
rich man. Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable
counselor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, like
Simeon, who waited for the coming of the Messiah, the consolation
of Israel. This man was waiting for the
coming of the Messiah. He came and went in boldly under
Pilate and asked him for the body of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
mention this man. So let's read what they say about
him. Let's go to Matthew first. Matthew, chapter 27, Matthew
27, verse 57. Matthew 27, 57. We pick up different things about
him from different ones. Mark says he's a counselor. Mark
says he's a man who waited for the consolation of Israel, for
the coming of the Messiah. Now, Matthew says in chapter
27, verse 57, When the evening was come on Friday, there came
a rich man, a rich man, a man named Joseph, a rich man of Arimathea. who also himself was Jesus' disciple. Let's see what Luke says about
it. Luke 23, verse 50. And behold, there was a man named
Joseph, a counselor, a good man, and a just man. The same had
not consented to the counsel and the deed of them. He didn't
consent to this crucifixion. Where Bob read, they said, give
us Barabbas, not him. Crucify Jesus, not him. Now listen. He was of Arimathea, city of
the Jews, who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. And this
man went unto Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. He took it
down and wrapped it in linen and laid it in a sepulchre that
was hewn in stone wherein never man before was laid, as on Friday
evening. And that day was the preparation
Sabbath drew on. Now, see something there. John,
let's see what John says about it. He had a helper. He didn't take that body down
from the cross by himself or wrap it in linen, which was a
custom of the Jews, by himself. He had a helper. You've got to listen to who it
was. In John 19, verse 38, after this,
Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, oh, here's something
else we discovered, but secretly, for fear of the Jews. Now, let's
not be too harsh with these people, but too quick to criticize. They
didn't have the revelation that we have. They didn't have the
understanding and knowledge of the sacrifice of Christ which
we have. They wouldn't even have understood. If they had been
standing in that temple and saw that veil rent, they would not
have understood the meaning of it. Even these disciples didn't believe.
He had risen. I will read you something in
a minute that will shock you. Even these people, these disciples
and these women who stood afar off, They came to anoint the
body of the Lord. They didn't believe he was going
to rise. They came to anoint a dead body in a tomb. But I'll just read on here. He
was a disciple secretly for fear of the Jews. He besought Pilate
that he might take away the body of Jesus. I mean, the secrecy
is gone because Mark said he boldly came. When he came in
to Pilate and asked for the body of Christ, that was telltale. That says I'm his disciple. Read
on. Pilate gave him leave. He came,
therefore, and took the body of Jesus, and there came also
with him Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night. And he brought a mixture of myrrh
and aloes, about a hundred-pound weight. Then took they, the body
of Jesus, Wounded in linen clothes, that was the custom. Remember,
at last when he came forth from the tomb and Christ said, Loosen
and let him go. Wrapped in linen clothes. Wounded in linen clothes with
the spices, as the man of the Jews appears to marry. That's
so interesting and so enlightening. I read many people believe both
of these men. love Christ and became disciples
of Christ. Perhaps so. Something else about this. Look at verse 44. And Pilate
marveled if he were already dead. You see, death by crucifixion
was slow and lingering. They hung a long... Christ was
there six hours, but they hung there longer than that. Because
when he died, the two thieves were still living. Let me read
you about that. Turn to John, chapter 19. John 19, verse 31. Christ gave
his life. He gave up the ghost. Now, no
man takes my life from me. Christ didn't die in the sense
that he couldn't prevent it. He gave his life. These two men
died when the end came to them. He gave his life. He died when he willed to die.
That was it. John 19, verse 31. The Jews, therefore, because
it was the preparation, we've read that two or three times
now, that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath
day. This will give you a little insight into these men. They
don't mind crucifying an innocent man who'd never done any evil
or harm in the name of their religion, but they were so protective
of their Sabbath day, they wanted that body off that cross that
they had nailed there so they could worship God. Isn't that
something? Their Sabbath day was a high
day, so they besought Pilate that their legs might be broken.
They might be taken away. They were hanging on that cross,
and then when their legs were broken, it just gave way to just
rip the body apart. Then came they, verse 32, to
the soldiers and break the legs of the first, the thief, and
of the other thief crucified with him. But when they came
to Jesus and saw he was dead already, They break not his legs. They couldn't, because the scripture
says not a bone will be broken. Read on, listen. And he that
saw it bare record, this is John writing, and his record is true,
and he knows what he says is true, that you might believe.
For these things were done that the scripture might be fulfilled,
a bone of him shall not be broken. All right, back to my text. So Pilate marveled in verse 44
that he was dead already, and he called unto him the centurion,
this same fellow, and he asked him whether he had been any while
dead, and when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body
to Joseph. And Joseph brought fine linen,
Joseph and Nicodemus, took him down, wrapped him in a linen,
laid him in a sepulchre. Now, that's not a hole in the
ground. And it was in the rocks. They would make these supplicants.
They were usually four cubits by six. That's six feet by nine. Or else they were, let's see,
I jotted it down here. They were six by nine or some
nine by twelve. And they had a door. And you'll
see that in a moment. And they took him down, wrapped
him, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock,
that's what I said, and they rolled a stone onto the door
of the sepulchre. Think how huge! When the women
came the next day, they said, who's going to move that stone?
So there was a huge stone in the front of the door of that
sepulchre. And here's something very important. Could this be
the fulfillment of Isaiah 53? Turn over that Isaiah 53. You've
read this many times, many, many times. Isaiah 53, verse 9. He made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich in his death. Though he had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth. Who are these, the wicked
and the rich? Well, the wicked are the two
thieves on either side of him who died with him. The rich,
remember I read Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man? This is his garden,
this is his new tomb. He came and got the Body of Christ
and put it in his new tomb. Now, let's read about this tomb.
First in Matthew 27. When Joseph had taken the body,
he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own
new tomb, never been used, which he had hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to
the door of the sepulchre and departed. And you know, I told
you about those ladies. And there was Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary sitting over against the sepulchre. They followed.
They were far off, but they kept following. They wouldn't leave. They saw him take that body down
here in Nicodemus. They saw him wrap it. They followed
him to that place where he buried it. Right there. Because they
marked the place they were coming back. on Sunday morning. They couldn't come back the next
day, it was a Sabbath, and they couldn't go to the temple, they
couldn't do these things. You watch, they're coming back
though. All right. Look at Luke 23, 53. I'll put a star by this
one. Luke 23, 53. Luke 23, 53. I hope I'm not tiring
you. This is so beautiful here. Look
at this now. Luke 23, 53. He said in verse 52, "...this
man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus, took it down,
and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was
hewn in stone, wherein never man before had laid." That is
so vital, because when he arose out of that grave, nobody else
had ever been in that grave. The one who came out is the only
one who ever laid there. That's very important. Christ
the Lord. And here's something else important.
Look at Matthew 27. Matthew 27, verse 62. The next day that followed the
day of the preparation, this was on the Sabbath here now,
the next day that followed the day of preparation, Friday, this
is Saturday, the chief priests and Pharisees came together to
Pilate, saying, You remember that that deceiver said while
he was alive, after three days I'll rise again? Why didn't the
disciples remember that? Why didn't these women remember
that? These soldiers, these priests did. He said he would rise. Now
listen, verse 64, "...command therefore that the sepulchre
be made sure until the third day." Lest his disciples come
by night and steal him away and say to the people, he's risen
from the dead. So the last era will be worse
than the first." So Pilate said unto them, you have a watch.
We'll send soldiers down there. You go your way, make it as sure
as you can. So they went and made the sepulchre
sure, sealing the stone and setting the soldiers. Well, let me read you two or
three more things. The Word of God is so beautiful,
so beautiful. First, chapter 16 now. When the
Sabbath was passed on Sunday morning, first day of the week,
that's the day we worship the day of our Lord's resurrection.
The old Sabbath's been done away, fulfilled, Christ is our rest.
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, had brought
sweet spices that they might come and anoint him. And very
early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came to
the sepulchre of the rising of the sun. And this is what they
talked about on their way. They had the spices and things
to anoint the body, going to the tomb. They said, who's going
to roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre and let
us in? That's a big stone. And when
they looked, they saw the stone was rolled away. Oh, it was very
great. And entering into the sepulchre,
I told you these sepulchres were 6 by 9, 9 by 12. They went in. They saw a young
man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment,
and they were afraid. Who is this young man? Matthew
28. Look at this, Matthew 28, verse
1. In the end of the Sabbath, as
it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, Matthew
28, verse 1, came Magdalene and the other married to see the
supplicant. And, behold, there was a great earthquake. This
occurred before they got there. And the angel of the Lord descended
from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door
and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, his raiment
white as the snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake
and became his dead man." Now, back to these women. They saw
this young man and they were afraid. Verse 6, he said to them,
don't be afraid. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucified. He was dead, he's alive forevermore.
He was crucified, but God raised him from the dead. He's with
them. We're going to rise like that someday, from the dead,
because he lives, we'll live. He's not here. They hold the
place where they laid him. Now, you go tell his disciples
and Peter, Peter will be one that won't think
he's welcome, so you be sure and give him a special invitation.
that he goes before you into Galilee, and there you will see
him, as he said unto you. And they went out quickly and
fled from the sepulchre, for they trembled with amazement,
neither said they anything to any man. They were afraid. Now,
when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared
first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
And she went and told them that had been with him as they mourned
and wept. And they that had heard that he was alive and had been
seen of her, they didn't believe After that, He appeared in another
form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. Remember
the two men on the road to Emmaus? They were so sad, and our Lord
walked beside two disciples. He said, why are you sad? Their
eyes were holding that they couldn't recognize Him. They said, you're
a stranger here, don't you know what's happened here the last
two or three days? Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross, and we thought,
you know what they said? We thought He was the Messiah.
All fools, he said, slow of heart to believe what the Prophet said.
He opened their eyes, taught them the scripture. But then
verse 14, after he appeared unto the leaven, as they sat at meat,
and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart,
because they believed not them which had seen him after he had
risen. And he said to them, Go ye into all the world, and preach
this gospel. Not the law. The gospel. Go preach this gospel,
this gospel of redemption through Christ. Not Sabbath days and
ceremonies and circumcision and priesthood and sacrifices. This day is done. Christ fulfilled
it. Our sacrifice has been offered. You go preach this gospel. And
you preach it in all the world. And you preach it to everybody,
everybody, every Christian. And he that believes you, he
that believes this, what he read a moment ago, what I've been
reading, what's written, God shook the heavens and the earth,
sent his Son, the desire of all nations, that's Christ, he's
God, our Redeemer. You find somebody that believes
this and will be baptized, Confess the Lord Jesus. That's how the
people of the New Testament confessed Christ. They were baptized. There
wasn't any aisle to walk down. There wasn't any pastor to shake
his hand. There wasn't any cards to sign. There wasn't any choir
room to hide in. They said, Me and them brethren,
what shall we do? And Peter said, Repent, believe the gospel, and
be baptized. And they did. And our Lord said,
He believed this message. And confessed it with their mouths.
They'll be saved. But if folks don't believe it,
they'll be damned.