We're going to commence our service tonight, and we're singing the hymn number 234. 234. One there is who loves thee, waiting still for thee. Canst thou yet reject him? None so kind as he will sound. Everyone, sing in your very best as we rise to worship God. 234, please. He's still for thee. I'm still yet rejected. Not so kind as he. Do not leave him longer. How unjust in love he has been. ♪ I wait in silence ♪ ♪ On the river flowing ♪ ♪ Holy, sacred love ♪ ♪ He has waited all the day ♪ Graciously we woo thee, do not slight this hope, though thy sins are many. He is waiting at my door, I wait his call. Oh, receive Him now. He has waited all the day. I wait this night. Jesus still is waiting, sinner, why delay? ♪ To His arms of mercy ♪ ♪ Rise and face the rain ♪ ♪ Only hope believing ♪ ♪ He will save the earth ♪ ♪ He is waiting at the door ♪ O receive Him now. He has waited all the day. I wait in silence. Let's all bow together, please, and we will seek the Lord's face together as we briefly pray. Our Father, in the quietness and in the stillness of thine house on this Lord's day evening, We count it a great joy and privilege to be found in the land of the living, to be found here in thy divine presence, to come before thee as worshipers, to come before thee to give thee thanks and praise for thy goodness and mercy and faithfulness shown to us. It doesn't matter what our background is or where we actually stand spiritually. We are all indebted to Thee for health and strength, a sound mind, for all the regular daily benefits that we receive, even the heat and the cold and the rain and the sunshine, food and raiment, and a measure of health and strength. These things we return Thee thanks for and give us all grateful hearts tonight. But best of all, we thank Thee for planning in eternity this great work of redemption, planning to send Thine only begotten Son to die on Calvary's cross for a world of sinners who had no time for Him at all. We're thankful for the death that He died. We're blessed that He was laid in the tomb. He lay under the power of death for a season. And then on the resurrection morning, he came forth. He tarried with his people for 40 days, and then he ascended to glory. And the next time the world will see him is when he comes again. And the promise is, behold, I come quickly. We pray, dear God, in the light of that, in the light of the suddenness of death and the reality of eternity, and the need to be right with God, we pray that tonight will prove to be a profitable gathering. It will be a night when men will hear the good news of the gospel, but not only will they hear the good news, but may they heed the good news. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And we pray that tonight the Lord will give faith to belief. He will give grace to repent of sin and turn from unrighteousness to a loving Savior who's ready and willing to save all who call upon Him. We do pray that tonight, in the name of Jesus, the air this night closes and comes to an end Even someone gathered here out of Christ will be like that lost sheep brought into the family and fold of God. Oh God, hear these, our prayers. Draw graciously near. Solemn time has come. God is here. The Lord's passing by. He's touching hearts in Portland, Owen tonight. He's touching hearts in Cullibackie, in O'Huckle, in the district. He's calling now, time may come when he will no longer call, when he will no longer visit, when he will no longer stop by and call men to himself. Behold now is the accepted time. Behold now is the day of salvation. So in these moments we have before us, precious moments, speak to all of our hearts. Bless Mr. Stewart. God bless him and Anna Long tonight. Give him great help in preaching. And then give him traveling mercies home. May God continue to bless this young man and this wife and family and this congregation. and may he continue to reap a harvest of souls in the days that lie ahead. Abide with us now, blessed Lord Jesus. Blessed Lord Jesus, come tonight for Christ's sake. Amen. We're going to sing the hymn number 178, in the hymn book 178, and it is to a well-known tune I think it is, what a friend we have in Jesus. Come, thou everlasting Spirit, bring to every thankful mind all the Savior's dying merit, all his sufferings for mankind. 178, and let's stand again. The singing has been good. It always is here. Continue with our good singing as we stand to worship God. 178, please. Just in spirit, bring to every thankful mind, All the Savior's dying merit, all His sufferings for mankind. True recorner of His passion, Underwhelming faith and heart, I reveal His great salvation Unto every faithful heart. I'm a witness of His dying, Let us be thy part of body, Christ, in every soul of mine. Let us from thine inward groaning learn, Lord, every fearsome grief. Lord take their praise adoring All the strength of God we seek Blessed be in me he felleth I in him and he in me At my empty soul he felleth Such the joyous song of glory. Now we're going to ask our brother Mr. Murphy to come and give the necessary announcements please. On behalf of our minister, Reverend Stewart, I'd just like to give you all a warm word of welcome here this evening to your gospel evening service. And it is a great privilege for us again tonight to have with us as our speaker, the Reverend Derek Irwin. He's no stranger to us here in Portlandown. And we thank our brother for coming tonight, and we look forward to him ministering in the gospel. And we give a special word of welcome to his wife, and to his daughter and to his grandson and welcome him here to Pork and Loon tonight as well. Just then the announcements for the week that lies ahead Wednesday night. 8pm is a deputation meeting with our brother Mr Robert McConnell and an offering will be taken up to support the work. that a God's servant is involved in. Thursday night at 8 p.m. is the men's monthly prayer meeting. Again, we encourage the men folk to make an effort to come along to that monthly prayer meeting this Thursday night at 8 p.m. in the church hall. Thursday then to Sunday of this week there's a Youth Council Gospel Mission which is taking place in Ballymena Free Presbyterian Church and the services Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening will be at 8 p.m. and then the Lord's Day service is at 8.45 p.m. and the preacher at these meetings will be the Reverend Thomas Martin And young people, please take the opportunity to get out to these meetings if you can, and to get friends and work colleagues in on to the sound of the gospel. Friday evening then, 7 p.m., is a children's meeting. And then the Youth Fellowship will be attending the gospel mission over in Ballymena at 8 p.m. And if all the young people could meet at the Laverty Home, then we will travel over together at 7.30 p.m. on Friday night. The next Lord's Day, we have Sunday school and Bible class, the usual time of 10.45. The morning prayer time at 11.15. The family worship serve at 12 noon. 3.30 is the gospel open air witness in Main Street. The preacher of that will be Mr. Edmund Kilpatrick. And then 5.45 prayer time. And 6.30, the gospel service. And the preacher at the two services in the church next Lord's Day will be the Reverend William McRae. The Reverend Stewart will be away. in Limavady next to the Lord's Day morning, and then Tully Vallon in the evening time preaching at their harvest service. And then the Monday evening, he's down in Annaskillen. So you remember, brother, in prayer for those harvest service next weekend. That's all by way of announcement. I'll just hand back to your brother, Irvin, now. Thank you. Well, it is a joy to be here to preach to you once again. I was wondering when Mr. Stewart announced that he would need a helicopter to take him to a harvest service, I was wondering where on earth it was going to be. I thought it was the Isle of Man, but it's up in Tullyvallon. Yes, you would need a helicopter to get there, by the way. I was up there just a few weeks ago. It's not the easiest place to get to, and they need as much prayer. He's a busy man. May God be pleased to bless him in his service for the Lord these days. We're going to sing another hymn, 589. And we'll stand again. You don't take up an offering here. I understand that. That's a sad thing to the ears of a ballerina man, but that's the way you do down here. So we will stand and sing 589. 589, this time, we speak of the land of the blessed, that country so bright and so fair, and oft are its glories confessed, but what must it be to be there? 589, stand again, let's all sing, join in, as well as our hearts to worship the Lord, please. We speak of the land of the rest, That country so bright and so fair, And of her its glories confess. Oh, what must it be to be there? To be there? To be there? Oh, what must it be to be there? To be there? To be there? Oh, what must it be to be there? ♪ We speak of his pathways of glory ♪ ♪ His hopes and pledges of surrender ♪ ♪ His wonders and pleasures untold ♪ ♪ Of what must it be to be there ♪ ♪ To be there, to be there ♪ Do we dare? Do we dare? Do we dare? Oh, what must there be? Do we dare? We scream of its peace and its love. Let Rome switch to glory thine where, The Church of the Firstborn above, On one must it be to be there. To be there. To be there. Oh, what must it mean to be there? To be there. To be there. Oh, what must it mean to be there? We speak of this freedom from sin. From sorrow, temptation, and pain, From trials without end within, Of what must it be to be there? Oh, what must it mean to be there? To be there? To be there? Oh, what must it mean to be there? Do the Lord our God send pleasure to you? For heaven our spirits prepare. Let it chart with the old search of hope and feel what it is to be there, to be there, to be there. What must it mean to be there? To be there? To be there? Oh, what must it mean? Just 50 years ago, I was one of the first delegates to go along to the Youth Council there as a delegate from Bellarmine. It's hard to believe that's 50 years ago. Pray that God will be pleased to bless the mission there and that there will be a gracious and gathering of precious souls. Will you please find in your Bibles Matthew chapter 27. Matthew chapter 27. And I'd like to commence to read at verse 45. Matthew 27 verse 45. And when you find the place, we will read these few verses together. Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. That is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that said, this man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him to drink. The rest said, let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened. And many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly saying, truly this was the son of God. May God bless his word to our hearts tonight. We'll take a moment to pray again very briefly. Let's all pray. This could be the night you leave the scene. This could be the night like no other night for you. I pray that tonight the Lord will bless his word powerfully to you. As we wait in thy presence, man cannot help us with the task presented to us here. Only the Spirit of God can give that enabling that is needed to rightly divide the word of truth. Let it not just come from the teeth out. Let it come from a heart that feels for men and women. Let it come from a heart that is sincere with a longing to glorify God. May every word be owned of thee. May the Spirit lead and guide in all things, directing the thoughts of the people to focus on the message, to focus on the Christ of the message, to behold the Lamb. Oh, that's a theme that has been before the congregation today. Even now in these closing moments, I am trusting thee for power. Thine can never fail words that thou thyself shall give me, must and shall prevail. Give prevailing grace in Jesus' name, I pray. Trust that everyone's able to hear me okay. I want to speak for a little time tonight on the greatest day in history. There have been many great days in the history of this world, but I think the one I'm going to talk about tonight can truly be recognized as the greatest day in history. What a day it was when the Lord Jesus Christ, God's well-beloved son, died. on an old rugged cross outside the walled city of Jerusalem. It has been described by one author as the greatest day in the history of the world. What a day it was. For on that day, the great work of redemption, planned by God the Father from all eternity, was finally accomplished by Christ the Son in the fullness of time. On that day, the Lord Jesus Christ shed his own precious atoning blood to save his people from their sin. On that day, he provided a full and free salvation for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. what a day it was. And then these verses we have read from Matthew 27. Matthew provides details about some of the events that took place in that memorable day on Calvary's hill. And for a little time this evening, I want to share with you three simple things. that the Spirit of God has brought to my attention, found in these particular verses that we've read. First of all, there's a word about the vinegar. Now, it's not the vinegar that you may have used with your fish and chips last night, or Friday night, or whatever night you have fish and chips. I have a daughter and she loves vinegar. And when she lived with us, when she was growing up, She would have covered anything that she could with vinegar, and I hated the very smell of it. And I said, get that little stuff away out of my sight. Did she do it? No, she didn't. That's the kind of obedient daughter I have. But it's not that kind of vinegar that we're talking about. Did you know that the Lord Jesus Christ was actually offered wine or vinegar twice on the cross? The first time is in verse 34, where it says, they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall. And then the Bible, gall often refers to that bitter tasting substance made from such a plant as wormwood or myrrh. And in the corresponding story in Mark chapter 15 verse 23 it says, they gave him wine mingled with myrrh, but he received it not. Now, he was thirsty. So why did he not receive this particular drink that was offered to him to begin with? Now, myrrh was used for a variety of purposes. For example, in Song of Solomon it was used as a perfume. The ladies all liked to get a nice expensive bottle of perfume for birthday or for Christmas or whatever. You all like a nice little bottle of perfume. It was used as an anesthetic. It was used to prepare for the burial of bodies. John chapter 19, there was a man called Joseph and then Nicodemus and they prepared the body of Christ for burial. They used spices and this kind of thing. It was an ingredient in the holy anointing oil that was used to anoint prophets and priests and kings. It was used to scent beds and perfume clothes. You've got to think about the heat in the Middle East and the stuffiness it would be in a home. So it was nice to have the smell of perfume on your bed linen or whatever you were using, or for beds or garments. We all have our body sprays these days and we have our perfumes and aftershave and everything else to make us smell good on a hot day and that's the same idea that we have here in the scriptures. It was also used to perform massages or for body lotion and the bitterness in the wine was due to the myrrh. Now having tasted this particular mixture that was presented to him, he refused to drink it. And you may be asking the question, why did he refuse to drink this mixture? Now according to tradition, it was customary for the respected woman of Jerusalem to provide a narcotic drink to those about to be crucified to ease their excruciating pain. So really what they were giving to these individuals who were being crucified was like a drug to ease the pain, to make it easier for them to endure the sufferings of crucifixion. It was really a stupefying drink given to these criminals to deaden the sense of pain. Now Jesus, he was offered this particular mixture. When it touched his lips he realised what it was and he refused it. Choosing to endure with full consciousness the sufferings appointed to him by the Father. And during those three hours of darkness, from noon to three in the afternoon, in the darkness, hidden from the view of gazing eyes, God's dear son literally suffered all the pangs of hell for his people. How great was his agony. How great was his suffering. And child of God, think about it. That's what he did for you. That's what he did for me. That's exactly what he did to save a people from the condemnation and the wrath of God. He endured the sufferings of hell. And that's the reason why there's no hell in the future of God's people, because Christ endured it all personally. He took our place. He took your place, child of God, and my place. He took that agony unto himself and he suffered the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. I don't believe that we will ever fully understand, even when we get to heaven, the depth of the sufferings, the agonies that he endured during those three long hours. that we might never ever have to suffer any of it. All because of Calvary. What about Calvary tonight? The greatest day in history, was it not? When God's dear son gave his life a ransom for sin. So the first drink was offered to ease the pain, but he wanted to be in control of his faculties. He was being the perfect substitute, doing all that God required. So the myrrh signifies or symbolizes bitterness, suffering, and affliction. Myrrh was there when he was born, and there's no myrrh when he comes to die. The wise men, when they came, they brought three gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. So the baby Jesus would grow up to suffer greatly as a man and would pay the ultimate price when he gave his life a ransom on Calvary's cross for sinners. And that was the lesson, that was the teaching. When these wise men brought the myrrh to Jesus, indicating this, he was born to die. He was born to save his people from their sin. Now it's interesting that in Matthew chapter two, he was surrounded by wise men and the myrrh is associated with these wise men. In Matthew 27, at the end of the gospel of Matthew, he's surrounded by wicked men when he's associated with the myrrh, dying for a world of sinners. Now we know the story about what happened at the cross. Two men were ready to die with him. Two men on the verge of a lost eternity, ready to cross over into eternal night, into eternal darkness. But at that crucial moment, one of the men had a change of heart. That's repentance. Change of mind about the whole situation. And he cried in his dying moments, God, be merciful to me, be gracious to me, remember me. And sure enough, it happened at the very last moment. The countdown is getting lower every day. It's almost five past seven. We've been in church here from about half past six. Sorry, five minutes have ticked away the clock. 35 minutes less to live on earth. 35 minutes closer to an eternity lost or saved with Christ. The countdown is getting lower. Time is running out. Now is the accepted time. Behold now is the day of salvation. In his birth he was laid in a manger, at his death he was nailed to a cross, poverty, pain. So the first drink was offered, he refused it for those reasons. The second drink was offered according to what we read here in verse 48 of our Bible reading, and straightway one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar. and put it on a reed and gave him to drink. The corresponding verse over there in Mark 15 is verse 35. And as death approached, according to what we read in John's Gospel, chapter 19, verse 28, Jesus cried, I thirst. Remember the rich man in Luke 16, when he died, he went to hell and he wanted Lazarus to bring some water to touch the tip of his tongue because I am tormented in this flame, I thirst. Thirst is part of the sufferings of hell. Christ endured the thirst for sinners so that we will never thirst again by the grace of God. So he cried, I thirst. And then we're told in verse 29 of John 19, there was set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon Hesup and put it to his mouth. And the Bible says in verse 30, he received it. So he rejected one drink and then he received the other drink. Why? Because it was a different kind of wine or vinegar. This was a sour wine or vinegar mentioned in the Old Testament. It was looked upon as a refreshing drink. Number 6 and 13 in Ruth 2 verse 14. Remember Ruth is out in the harvest field and Boaz says to her, you can go and you can dip your bread or your food in the little vinegar. There it is. Little vinegar. That's the kind of vinegar we're talking about here. It was a common beverage used by laborers and soldiers because it relieved thirst more, apparently, than water and was inexpensive. It was a cheap, sour wine that the soldiers would bring to relieve their thirst. It was thirsty work kneeling someone to the cross. And so they had their vessels set there by the cross, and as they continued to do what they had to do, they have the sun burning down, beaming down from heaven, and these men would go from time to time and take a cup, a ladle, whatever, and take a drink to relieve their thirst. Jesus said in Psalm 69, verse 21, the Psalm of the cross, They gave me gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. He's fulfilling scripture. The whole of the Bible is like a giant jigsaw puzzle, set in motion by God, setting one piece and another piece, and going through the years of history, still putting in the puzzle pieces one by one. The picture is becoming clearer as we go along. Only a few more pieces to put in here and the jigsaw puzzle of God's plan will be complete. Oh, what a picture. Everything dovetails according to the purpose of God. So the first wing was designed to dull the pain. to keep him from having to endure the cross with full consciousness. He refused that. And the second wine was given to keep him conscious for as long as possible, and thus having the effect of prolonging his pain. Jesus drank this cup. Other condemned criminals, they would have taken the first, of course, to kill the pain. They had to pass on the second, so as not to prolong the horrific pain. But Jesus was taking no shortcuts. This is what he had to do to accomplish our redemption. This was what was involved in it. It wasn't an easy road. There was no way out for him. He submitted himself to it. It was his mind to yield to the Father. He knew about the obstacles. He knew about the pain and the suffering, and yet because his love was so great, he willingly endured these things. Oh, how greatly Jesus must have loved me to bear away my sins on his body on the tree. John tells us in chapter 19, 29, they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon Hyssop and put it to his mouth. When the Israelites, way back there in the book of Exodus, when the Israelites marked their doorposts for the Passover night, the lamb's blood was to be applied there. How did they apply it? They applied it there by using a bunch of hyssop. And now we can see the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Lamb that I think you were hearing about this morning as I listened to the prayers tonight. The same Lamb. He's in agony. I thirst, he says. Death is just a few breaths away, in a sense. And now they take a bunch of hyssop. They dip it in the wine that comes out. You can see the dripping of the red blood, in a sense. Here's the lamb, God's lamb going to the cross to purchase a redemption. Oh, does this not signify that God was murdering his people? Not as targets of judgment, but setting them apart from the Egyptians to cleanse them and to save them and to redeem them. One time David prayed in Psalm 51 after a great sin, cleanse me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. He was asking God to cleanse him spiritually. It's very possible that God meant this to be a picture of purification when they took the hyssop and touched his lips, the lips of the Lamb of God. as Jesus brought forgiveness with his sacrifice for sin. Just as in the Old Testament, Hyssop purified a defiled person, so the cleansing blood of Jesus purifies sinners and fits them for heaven. Are you washed in the blood? Is it well with your soul? Have you been redeemed? Do you know Christ whom to know as life eternal? There's a word about the vinegar, two different kinds, two different types. He received one, he refused the other. The significance is very important. Then in the second place, there's a word about the voice. In verse 50, we're told Jesus, when he'd cried again with a loud voice, And in verse 46 of the same chapter, and about the ninth hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus cried with a loud voice. So there's a reference to the loud voice twice in these verses. And the word for loud in the Greek is megas. You've heard tell of a megastore. Some of you have been to America, you've been to a Walmart, it's a megastore. You could get anything almost in Walmart. You get a haircut. You can buy pins and needles. You can buy tires for your car. You can buy a battery. You can buy a rifle. You can buy anything. There's a mega store. That was a great voice, a loud voice. He's been up all night. He's been persecuted all night. There's a different trial during the night. He's been denied food and water. Now, he's been on the cross for a time. Three hours in the light, three hours in the dark. And yet, with a loud voice he cries. His strength has not abated with a loud voice. He's in control, he's in charge of the situation. With a loud voice he cried. The Bible speaks of a great fish in a great building. A great room, the upper room. here his loud voice is associated with the tree. We also read again of the loud voice of Jesus. I think it may be the only other time you read in other gospels about the loud voice of Christ, but the two incidents that I'm identifying here is the loud voice associated with the tree, and then the loud voice that is associated with the tomb. In John chapter 11, verse 43, Jesus has come to the tomb of Lazarus. Martha and Mary are there with him, the Jews are there. And the Lord is gonna perform a miracle. He's gonna call forth a dead man from the grave. And the Bible says that with a loud voice, he cried, Lazarus, come forth. So, on the tree, Associated with this loud voice, he's giving his life for sinners. And then an illustration of Lazarus in John chapter 11, calling this man forth from the tomb, he's giving life to the sinner. The voice on the tree and then there's the victory over the tomb. And Christ triumphed over the tomb by his work on the tree. Christ has triumphed over the power of death. That's why death should not be feared. We're human beings. We don't look forward to death. We want to live as long as we possibly can. But really, death holds no fear for the child of God. Absent from the body and present with the Lord, the moment you breathe your last, Your body remains. It's put into the coffin. Family wait for two or three days to have the funeral. You're over into the tomb in the casket. And that's it. It corrupts away. It turns to powder, whatever. But the moment you close your eyes in death, your soul departs to be with Christ in heaven. Just the way the sea of dying thief, the moment he died, he went to heaven along with Jesus in spirit. His body may have hung in the tree, I don't know for how long, maybe a few days, maybe the dogs ate his body, I don't know. But this moment, that moment he died, he went in spirit to heaven. And a day will come when Christ will come And the body will be raised again from the earth for all of God's people, incorruptible, a new body. Because you see, when Christ died and he went to heaven in spirit, he came back again. And the body that he was given was a glorified body because he was able to go through doors without having to open the door. Didn't have to go in a way, he just went through it. And it's a glorified body. And when we go to heaven and spirit day will come when the body will be reunited again with the spirit and we'll be given a glorified body and we will enter into the joy of everlasting pleasure in the presence of Christ in glory, redeemed by precious blood. Is that your home? Is that what you're looking forward to? Is that the place you'll end up in? The home in heaven. So Christ triumphed over the tomb by his work on the tree, the cross. The first time that this voice, his voice is heard in the scripture after his birth was Luke chapter two, verse 49. And his voice, as you know, even those in the Sunday school will know, it was in the temple. The spirit of God is very specific. It was in the temple. And the final time his voice was heard, this loud voice, before his death, it was heard on the tree. So it's heard in the temple, it's heard on the tree. And Luke is very specific. He's very, very specific where his voice was heard in the temple. He was in the midst of the doctors. And they heard his voice in the midst of the doctors. Now that's not a doctor you're getting Culley back or a ho-ho. It's not the one you phone about half eight in the morning if you want an appointment. No, it's not. They're talking here about the teachers. So Christ was there in the midst of the teachers when his voice was heard for the first time. And now we come to this final time in John chapter 19. And John is very specific. Where Christ was when he spoke, he was in the midst of the thieves. Oh, isn't the Bible a wonderful book? And it's here tonight, it's in our midst. Jesus is passing this way. Jesus is passing this way right now, just now. He's passing by. Lay hold upon him, cry like blind Bartimaeus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Do not pass me by. Both of these locations, the temple and the tree, were places of sacrifice. Now it's interesting what he said the first time he spoke back there in Luke chapter 2. This is what he said the first time. He's addressing Mary, his mother, and this is what he said. I must be about my father's business. In the final time, he spoke the seventh saying on the cross. What did he say? Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. He addressed, first of all, he talked about the Father. And then he spoke to the Father. All the way through, all the way through his life and ministry, he enjoyed communion with the Father. And when he came to die, Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit. That was a prayer that a Jewish mother taught to her child to say at the end of each day. And the picture we have of Christ as he comes to die on the cross, he's just like a child falling into the arms of his heavenly Father. Father, I commend my spirit unto thee. What a wonderful picture as the Son of God came that I just fell asleep in the arms of his heavenly Father. What a way to go. What a way to depart this scene of time in the arms of Christ. And you notice what happened in verse 52, the graves were opened and bodies of the saints which slept arose. And that's going to happen one of these days when Christ comes. The graves open again. And those laying in the graves will be resurrected, some to everlasting life, others to everlasting condemnation and wrath and judgment. Cast away from the presence of God forever. You know what Jesus said to his disciples in John chapter 11? He said, Lazarus, sleepeth. And they thought, well, he's been sick and surely a good sleep will do him a world of good. Jesus wasn't talking about natural sleep. But when he said, Lazarus sleepeth, he had to make it clear to the disciples. And he said, Lazarus is dead, but I go to awake him. I go to awake him. And he raised him from the dead. And there's a day coming when we too will be raised up, love the Lord, to be like Jesus. falling asleep in the arms of God, the great creator, to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. There's a word about the vinegar. There's a word about the voice. And then briefly, there's a word about the veil. In verse 51, we're told then, and behold, look at this, see this. The veil of the temple was written in Twain from the top to the bottom. Now the temple, as you probably are aware, was the center of the Jewish religious life, where the sacrifices were offered, where the law of Moses was followed and observed. And in the temple, there was this veil. And in the tabernacle too, Earlier times, there was this veil that separated the ministry of the priests from the ministry carried on by the high priest one day a year on the Day of Atonement. There was a veil. And only the high priest could enter in through that veil on the Day of Atonement. Now, Solomon's temple, the veil would have been 30 cubits high. Now, I take the cubit to refer to 18 inches, some think it is referring to 20 inches, but if you take 30 cubits, you take 30 feet plus 15 more, that's a good height, that is. And so this massive veil, and while there's no scripture to prove this, Yet we go by commentaries and we go by the first century Jewish historians and so on, and they think that the veil was about four inches thick. So you take this massive veil. A couple of priests couldn't get that put in place. Sometimes you have a work program, you get a whole crowd of men to come to do a work program. It would have taken a whole crowd of them to get that thing in place. And here were the priests, they were ministering that day when the sacrifice was made. And all of a sudden, they could hear a tearing. There was something ripping. You can imagine the fear that filled the hearts of the priests as they were ministering, offering their sacrifices, and they heard this ripping. And all of a sudden, from the top to the bottom, it was reddened too. Now, as I said, the high priest on the Day of Atonement could go in there, not without blood and without incense to appear in the presence of God. That was God's dwelling place among his people. And that was barred to the people. Sin separates men from God. But through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, typified in what the high priest did on the Day of Atonement, he went in there to offer an atonement. And that's exactly what happened around that ninth hour. The veil of the temple is written to you. There's a way open up now for all men a moment to come through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And that's what happened. His life was offered as a sacrifice to open up a way into the presence of God. There's no other way. Now you can attempt it if you like and desire, but it will fail. Only Jesus saves. Only his blood makes an atonement for the soul. Your only hope is in Christ. There's no other hope apart from grace. The grace over God. And what a moment that was when the veil of the temple was rent in twain. The Lord Jesus Christ, just before he came to die, he left the temple in Jerusalem. And he said, I'm going away from the temple now. Your temple, your house, it's no longer the house of God, it's the Jewish temple. It's going to become desolate. They had rejected him. They nailed him to the cross. About 40 years later, AD 70, the Roman armies came. They leveled the temple, they killed many thousands, they soldered the ground, destroyed the temple because God was no longer there. When Christ walked away, oh God, the Father walked away. He walked away and left the temple, he left the nation, left the people to themselves. And what the people suffered in A.D. 70 cannot be fathomed. It's a fearful thing for the Lord to depart, for a spirit to be withdrawn, to leave men in their sin. No hope, but there's mercy with God. The Savior has died. His blood has been shed, the door's been opened. There's a way back to God, free of charge. Sometimes we sing the hymn, no more veil God bids me enter. By the new and living way, not in trembling hope I venture. Boldly I as call obey, there with him my God, I meet God upon the mercy seat. There's blood upon the mercy seat. There's a saviour from sin. His name is Jesus. The all-lovely, all-glorious, all-victorious Son of God. The Redeemer of His people. There's the vinegar. A word about the vinegar. A word about the voice that's finished, it's done, it's complete. There's a word about the veil. There's a way back to God. It begins at the cross. It begins at a place called Calvary. Will you scale the hill tonight? Will you bow and bend at knee at the foot of the overrocket cross and look up into the face of the one who's altogether lovely and cry, my Lord and my God, forgive me for my sins. I'm sorry for what I've said and done. I'm sorry for the years of rejection, years of rebellion. I thought I knew better. But in the light of eternity and the coming judgment, I realize it's time for me to seek the Lord. Does it not? When you watch some of the images there of what happened in Tampa, Siesta Key, we've stayed there quite a number of times, just beside the ocean. Cedar Key, see the raging waves just destroying everything before it. I thought many a time, as I watch it during this past week, The wrath of God will come and bill us over the heads of all those out of Christ. Sweep them all away to Christ's eternity. None can stand before Almighty God. Flee to Christ. Believe in Him tonight and trust in Him. We'll close now with a word of prayer. Father, We thank Thee for Thy Word. We thank Thee for its simplicity. We pray that even now, the Lord will continue to speak to us, continue to follow in our footsteps, continue striving with us. Don't let us go of right of Christ. Don't let us wander any longer. But may this be the night of coming home. But there's a backslider. They need to get back to the Lord. They're wasting their time, they're wasting their talents. Far away from Him tonight. Only God knows where they're at. In Jesus' name, draw them lovingly to the foot of the cross. Even now, may a prayer ascend from some of these pews. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Hear these, our prayers, and dismiss us with thy blessing. And in thy fear, for we ask these things in the Savior's name and for Jesus' sake. Amen. Now I'm not going to shake hands with you for reasons I've mentioned before, but if anyone desires to speak with me or some of the elders, maybe you'd feel happier to do that. Please don't go away. Take time to let us know. And if we can be of any help, we'll do our best to point you to Christ.