The Glory of The Cross Matthew 27:27-66

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Outstanding music this morning. I'm so grateful for all the musicians in this church and the worship that they add to the service here.
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What we have seen over the last several weeks is the suffering that Jesus experienced even before the cross.
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He experienced betrayal, abandonment, the prospect of facing his father's wrath, enduring a kangaroo court put on by Jewish leaders, and going through the humiliation of ultimately being sentenced by the
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Gentiles headed by the ruthless leader Pontius Pilate. All of this he endured before the cross.
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But this morning, we arrive at the time where the crucifixion takes place, where Jesus would experience his greatest suffering.
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As we continue our sermon series through Matthew and look at the remainder of chapter 27, I'm going to do something a little different today.
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What I'm going to do is read Matthew 27, verses 27 -66.
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I'm going to read this in two sections. Verses 27 -50 and then verses 51 -66.
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And after I am done reading the first section, I'm going to zero in on Jesus as He hung on the cross.
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And I can already tell we have a bad mic, so I'm going to switch the mic here. Hopefully this one works better.
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It's nice when you have options. In the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus made seven different statements.
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And I thought it would be appropriate to zero in on these seven statements. Theologians call these the seven last words of Christ.
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After we look at what Jesus said, I'm going to close this sermon by reading verses 51 -66 as these verses set the table for the glorious event, the resurrection of Christ, that we will look at next
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Sunday. So this is the road map that we are going to follow this morning as we look at that day when our
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Lord was crucified. So at this time, I encourage you to turn in a Bible with me to Matthew 27.
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If you do not have a Bible, we have the red Bibles in the pews. We always encourage people to follow along with me.
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And this sermon is titled, The Glory of the Cross. Once again,
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I'll begin by reading verses 27 -50. Matthew 27, starting in verse 27.
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Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before Him.
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And they stripped Him, and put a scarlet robe on Him. And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand.
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And kneeling before Him, they mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit on Him, and took the reed and struck
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Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe, and put His own clothes on Him, and led
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Him away to crucify Him. As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.
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They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called
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Golgotha, which means place of a skull, they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall.
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But when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified Him, they divided His garbens among them by casting lots.
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Then they sat down and kept watch over Him there. And over His head, they put the charge against Him, which read,
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This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then two robbers were crucified with Him. One on the right and one on the left.
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And those who passed by derided Him, wagging their heads and saying, You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself.
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If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. So also the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked
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Him saying, He saved others. He cannot save Himself. He is the
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King of Israel. Let Him come down now from the cross and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God.
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Let God deliver Him now if He desires Him, for He said,
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I am the Son of God. And the robbers who were crucified with Him also reviled
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Him in the same way. Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
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And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, L'ma Sabachthani, that is,
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My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, this man is calling
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Elijah. And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to Him to drink.
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But the others said, Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His Spirit.
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Look with amazement at how Jesus spent His last moments. Look with amazement at how
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Jesus spent His last moments. We're going to see seven practices how, and as I said, we're going to see this in the four
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Gospels. We're going to get the full perspective here of what happened as Jesus hung on the cross.
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The first practice how, you were to look with amazement at how Jesus spent His last moments is by praying for those who ignorantly rebel against God.
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Praying for those who ignorantly rebel against God. And we're going to see this in Luke 23 .34.
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So write that down in your notes. Luke 23 .34 These are the first words that Jesus spoke as He hung on the cross.
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And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
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And they cast lots to divide His garments. The first words that Jesus uttered on the cross were a prayer for His enemies.
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Jesus began His ministry in prayer in Luke 3 .21. And He ends it with prayer here.
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At this point, He is near death. I mentioned a week ago that He was scourged, which means
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He was whipped. He was whipped 39 times. The flesh from His body was peeled.
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He lost tons of blood, which is why Simon of Cyrene needed to assist
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Him as He went to the cross. He's almost dead as He gets on the cross.
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And as He hangs on the cross, He prays, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
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He demonstrates the power of prayer. The Father heard His prayer. We know that the
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Father heard His prayer because of the fruit of the Gospel in the book of Acts. There were many enemies of Christ who would come to believe in Him.
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In fact, at the end of this sermon, we will read the remainder of Matthew's account concerning the crucifixion where a centurion soldier, a soldier standing, putting these nails in his hands and in his feet, comes to faith in Jesus as he witnesses the man who is before him.
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Prayer accomplishes much. Today is the first day of Holy Week. During this time, all over the world,
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Christ's enemies are not remembering His death. And who are His enemies? His enemies are those who do not have a relationship with Him.
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It's not just the most vile and violent and ruthless people who are
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His enemies. The most hostile people. It's not just the most hostile who are His enemies. It's anybody who does not have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
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They are going on with their lives and many of them do not realize they are openly rebelling against Him.
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We need to follow Christ's example by praying for those rebelling against God. During this time, pray that God would show them their sin.
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Pray that God would show them that they are an enemy of the cross of Christ and that they would surrender to Him in order to be saved.
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I think we see this picture this week where people are saying that the transgender community is under attack.
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There's six body bags of Christians who were killed in a
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Nashville school. One of them was the pastor's daughter. Fourth grade.
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And the transgender community is under attack? Are you kidding me? Everything is backwards.
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This is how Scripture said it would be. But why do I bring this up here? Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.
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We want these people to know Christ. Okay? I just want to make that point very clear.
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Father, forgive them. We need to be like Christ and pray that prayer. Look with amazement at how
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Jesus spent His last moments. The first practice how is through praying for those who ignorantly rebel against God.
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Look with amazement at how Jesus spent His last moments. And the second practice how is through pointing people to the only
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One who grants salvation. And we'll see this in Luke. Luke 23, verses 39 -43.
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Jesus was crucified in between two thieves as Matthew recorded in Matthew 27.
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Once again, what Matthew wrote in Matthew 27 -38 is that two robbers were crucified with Him.
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One on the right and one on the left. And then down in verse 34, we read that the robbers who were crucified with Him also reviled
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Him in the same way. In the Gospel of Luke, Luke records the full conversation that Jesus had with them in Luke 23, verses 42 -43.
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There, we read that one of the criminals who were hanged, railed at Him, saying, are
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You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us. But the other rebuked
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Him, saying, do You not fear God? Since You are under the same sentence of condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds.
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But this man has done nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when
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You come into Your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, truly, I say to you, today, you will be with me in paradise.
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Why did God include this in the Bible? It's interesting, if you just read the Gospel of Matthew, you don't see the full story.
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Because in Matthew, both thieves are going after Christ. They're both being vile toward Him.
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But Luke tells us it didn't end that way. One thief humbles himself.
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This story is meant to humble us. There's only one explanation as to why this man was saved.
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One is saved only through God's grace. The power of salvation is being displayed here.
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The thief believes in the One who is hanging from a tree. He knows enough to know who
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Jesus is and that He alone is the only hope for salvation. The God of the universe, who took on flesh, is condemned to death in between two criminals.
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These criminals have the right person between them. It's the author of life. It's the only
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Savior of the world. This is the story of life. One thief continues in his unbelief, continues in his rejection.
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The other humbles himself and believes in the man who stands between them, the
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Lord Jesus Christ. The criminal who believed was not better than the other, but by the grace of God, one believes and one does not.
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This should humble us. Anyone who believes that you can earn your way to salvation, earn your way to heaven, should be very humbled by this passage because if salvation is by works, then this thief is not going to heaven.
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Not even close. He was a criminal. And at the very end of his life, the last day of his life, he believes in Christ.
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And he's saved. And it is true, by the way. Works are important because works show that you're saved.
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Once the Holy Spirit enters your life when you believe in Christ, you're going to have Spirit -generated works.
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So if this thief were to have lived beyond this point, people would have seen the fruit in his life.
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But nobody is saved based on their fruit. You're saved based on faith alone in Christ.
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And this thief shows that clearly. Look with amazement at how
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Jesus spent his last moments. And the second practice how is through pointing people to the only one who grants salvation.
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He's pointing people to himself. And he says, today, you will be with me in paradise.
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Look with amazement at how Jesus spent his last moments. And the third practice how is through caring for his mother.
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And this third statement of Christ comes from the Gospel of John in v. 25 -27.
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It is remarkable that as Jesus dies, he cares for the woman who brought him into the world.
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John 19, v. 25 -27 records this sweet episode.
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But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother. And his mother's sister Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.
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When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother,
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Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother.
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And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. So as Jesus faced death, he thought of the well -being of his mother.
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This is a good son. Jesus knew that he was leaving and his mother needed someone to protect her.
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I mean, you think of those moments when a mother and a young child are together. I see it right now with Brianna and my two kids and just the love they have for their mother.
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And of course, Jesus is an adult here. But you can just think of those memories they would have had together when he was a child and how sweet it was.
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And he's leaving the world and one of his last acts as he leaves this world is he takes care of his mom.
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Isn't that sweet? He knew that he was leaving and his mother needed someone to protect her.
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What a great example that Jesus sets for us. Parents, it is your top priority to care and protect your children.
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Grown -up children, you have an important responsibility to care and protect for your older parents.
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Jesus calls his people to care for those closest to them. There are far too many sad stories about Christian leaders neglecting their families while they go through the busyness of ministry.
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The writings of A .W. Tozer are works that many Christians have learned from. And he wrote many
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God -glorifying things, but after he died and his wife remarried, she commented on how the husband she was married to now better cared for her.
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What she said of her husband is that he loved Jesus, but he didn't love me. What a strong rebuke that is.
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One of the chief ways we show that we love Christ is the love that we have to those closest to us.
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This is shown in our biological family and church family. As Jesus said in John 14, 15, if you love me, you will keep my commandments.
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Do not neglect those closest to you. Take care of your biological family and also look to care for the needs of your church family.
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It's what a wonderful sight it is when someone has a need and that need is met by those close to them.
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We see it in biological families. We see it within the church family. Now notice in this passage in John 19 that his beloved disciple
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John is the one to whom Jesus entrusts the care of his mother.
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He trusts John. John is the only disciple who stood by Jesus as he died and so Jesus uses
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John to care for his mother as he was about to leave the world. We want to be that kind of person where if the family were to perish and the child needed to go to someone, would they want you to take care of them?
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That really says a lot and it says a lot for John in this episode. So look with amazement at how
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Jesus spent his last moments. The third practice how is through caring for his family.
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The fourth practice how you are to look with amazement at how Jesus spent his last moments is through bearing the full fury of his father's wrath and this comes from the account in Matthew 27 that we've already read in verse 46.
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As we read Jesus' experience on the cross, his physical suffering was not the worst experience that he endured.
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Not even close. What we have already seen in Matthew 26 as Jesus was in the
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Garden of Gethsemane, there he asked his father if there was any other way for him to pay the penalty for the sins of the world.
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He knew the answer. The only way for him to die as a substitute for sinful humanity and bring humanity into a right relationship with God was to experience the holy wrath of his father.
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I explained this a few weeks back that the only way for Jesus to earn our redemption was for him to go through this.
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As we sang this morning, his robe is for mine. I explained this a few weeks back that the only way was this.
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Our sin deserves death as Romans 6 .23 says.
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The wages of sin is what? Death. Eternal death.
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Hell. The only way not to go to hell is for one to face hell for you.
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And that happened. And that's what we're remembering this week. This is exactly what
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Jesus experienced as he hung on the cross. In Matthew 27 .46, I'll read it again, and about the ninth hour, by the way, the ninth hour would be three o 'clock in the afternoon,
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Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, L'ma Sabachthani. That is, my
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God, my God, why have you forsaken me? What's interesting here is that Eli, Eli is
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Hebrew and L'ma Sabachthani is Aramaic. So when people ask, what language did
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Jesus speak? Well, he spoke Hebrew and Aramaic. Now, 2 Corinthians 5 .21
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says, He made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.
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1 Peter 2 .24 says that he bore our sins in his body, on the tree.
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Jesus endured the wrath that you and I deserve. For the first time ever as Jesus hangs on the cross, as all the sins of humanity are placed on him, for the first time ever,
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Jesus experienced the displeasure of his father as he endured his wrath. And this is an attribute of God that people don't like to talk about.
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But if we don't talk about the wrath of God, the gospel doesn't make sense. Because this is what's happening here.
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He needs to face hell for you. The wages of sin is death.
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God is a perfect judge. And so this must happen for us to be forgiven.
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You and I deserve to be separated from God forever and to bear the just penalty for our sins.
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Anyone in hell experiences separation from God and the wrath of God. But because of what
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Jesus accomplished, he spares you from this eternal misery. Throughout this sermon,
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I want to say, if you have never believed in Jesus, believe this day.
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This is the most important message you could ever hear. This is the meaning of life.
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People ask you, what is the meaning of life? Christ died for our sins.
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And next week, we're going to see he didn't stay dead. He accomplished this for you.
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It's the only way. John 3 .16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only
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Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
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Like when you go to a funeral and we can say that someone is in heaven, the only reason we can say that person is in heaven is because that person has believed in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
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It's the only way. That's what this book says. And this is the
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Word of God. The same one who created the lilies and the birds, the morning light, as we sang this morning, the rocks and trees, the skies and seas, the same one who did all of that wrote a book.
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And he's telling us, this is how you can have a relationship with me forever.
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Look with amazement at how Jesus spent his last moments. The fourth practice how is through bearing the full fury of his
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Father's wrath. The fifth practice how you are to look with amazement at how
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Jesus spent his last moments is through showing the vulnerability of his humanity.
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And we'll see this in the Gospel of John. Chapter 19, verse 28. We have seen in Matthew that Jesus is not only man, but that he is also
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God. He is not part man. He is fully man. We have seen his humanity on full display.
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His humanity comes out clearly as he hangs on the cross. As John 19 .28 records, after this,
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Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the Scripture, I thirst.
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One of the seven statements that Jesus says is I thirst. Through this statement,
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Jesus is showing his humanity. As he hung on the cross, he did not use his
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God card to sidestep the suffering he experienced. He suffered like any other man suffered who was crucified.
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Crucifixion was the most humiliating, most painful death imaginable. They would hang on a cross until they suffocated to death.
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Every time they would push up to catch a breath, because that's the only way they could breathe, was by pushing up. They would feel the nails in their hands and the nails in their feet.
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And eventually, they would get so tired that they would suffocate. That's crucifixion. Nowadays, when they put someone to death, they just put poison in them and they're dead within seconds.
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The Romans wanted to make a point of criminals. If you go against us, we are going not only to kill you, but we're going to humiliate you.
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And this is the suffering that Jesus experienced. And of course, Jesus is the perfect one. He didn't deserve any of this.
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But he did it for you. He did not use his God card. What he is experiencing here is severe dehydration.
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Think of all the difficulties that humans experience. Jesus experienced this and far more.
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He understands what it is like to be a human. Jesus knows the trials that humans face very well.
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He got tired, hungry, and as we see here, thirsty. He wept when his dear friend
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Lazarus died. He experienced abandonment as we have seen. And he was tempted by sin as we are.
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But he never gave in to sin. Lastly, as we are focusing on now, he died a humiliating death on the cross.
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He knows exactly what you are facing in your life. And some of you are facing a great trial in your life right now.
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And he knows exactly what you are going through. He too was human. The author of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 4, verses 14 -16 that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.
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Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.
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But one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
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He shows us His humanity. And this is a reminder that He was a man as we are.
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He truly was fully human. And this should amaze you and I. He had to be fully human in order to bear our sins.
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He had to be fully God. He had to be fully human. And He is both. Be amazed at this.
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Look with amazement at how Jesus spent His last moments. And the fifth practice how is through showing the vulnerability of His humanity.
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The sixth practice how you are to look with amazement at how Jesus spent His last moments is through proclaiming that He conquered death.
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Proclaiming that He has conquered. Once again, we go to the Gospel of John.
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John records more than any other. John 19, verse 30, where Jesus is about to die and He proclaims a victory cry.
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What is that victory cry? Let's say it. It is finished. This is a victory cry.
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What's finished? His redemptive work. At that point, it's done.
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Anybody who believes in Him has their sins paid in full. In history, in the 5th century
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B .C., there was a famous runner by the name of Pheidippides. He is recorded by the
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Greek historian Herodotus. He ran from Marathon to Athens, Greece, which was 26 .2
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miles. That's where we get the marathon from. And he ran 26 .2 miles from this city to Athens to tell the
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Athenians that they had won the battle over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.
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As he arrived, he proclaimed, Joy to you, we've won! And then he died.
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This Greek victory was just a battle in history. On Good Friday, Jesus won the war of all wars.
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As Jesus hung there on the cross, he knew it was appropriate that he yelled out a victory cry.
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It was not the last thing, he said, but as he awaited death, his saving work had been completed.
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He came into the world to save sinners. And at this point, he has accomplished his mission.
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He is saying that his sacrificial work is done. Rejoice in this.
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Every day is a good day because of what he accomplished at the cross. And we need to be reminded of this. When you wake up and there's a foot of fresh snow on the ground, remember,
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Jesus has conquered. It is finished. He has conquered the grave.
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No matter what trial life throws at you, you can always rejoice in the reality that Jesus has conquered as he bore the sins of the world.
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And anyone who believes in him conquers along with him. And we need to be reminded of this.
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The song we sang this morning, this is my Father's world.
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Jesus who died shall be satisfied and earth and heaven will be one. The official victory hasn't happened because Satan hasn't yet been defeated, but Satan will be defeated in the future and he will be victorious.
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And we will be victorious along with him. And here's the seventh practice how you are to look with amazement at how
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Jesus spent his last moments. That's through trusting his Father to receive his earthly soul.
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And this comes from the Gospel of Luke 23, v. 46. In this verse,
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Jesus said, then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands
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I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last. These are the last words that Jesus spoke as he hung on the cross.
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And here we must understand that humans, okay, so everyone in this room is a human. We are all made up of body and soul.
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Okay, you have a physical side and you have a spirit side. Another way to say it is that we are embodied spirits.
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The moment Jesus breathed his last, his spirit goes to the Father. No one needs to persuade
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Jesus of the afterlife since he is God. He knows there is an afterlife. He, along with the
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Father and the Spirit, have lived forever. And they created humans to live forever. The Scripture talks about the final resurrection where all believers will rise from their graves to live in a glorified body forever.
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Let me think about that. Think about these cemeteries that we have in our area. One day, these graves are going to be ripped open with bodies that are going to come out and they're going to live forever with Christ.
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But before the final resurrection, every believer has a separation.
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Death actually means separation. It's a separation of the soul from the body. Sometimes you look at a dead body at a funeral.
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It doesn't look like the person. That's because they're missing their soul. The Bible does not teach soul sleep.
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Soul sleep is that you're not conscious until the final resurrection. Luke 16 talks about the rich man in Lazarus where Lazarus is conscious in heaven.
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For the believer, when you die, your fellowship with God does not miss a beat.
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You will enter his presence immediately. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5 .8
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that to be away from the body is to be with the Lord. As Stephen was being stoned in Acts 7 .59,
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he uttered the same words as the Lord Jesus. He said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
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I remember I was there when my grandfather passed away. My grandfather, Mel Lysing, very godly man, faithful for so many years, faithfully walking with the
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Lord. And me and three of my family members were with him as he took his last breath. And it was the most peaceful thing
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I've ever seen knowing that he was entering the presence of God. He took his last breath and for 14 years, his spirit has been with the
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Lord and one day, he is going to rise from the dead. Here, Jesus sets us the ultimate example about how to die.
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He has unwavering trust in his Father that his spirit will go to be with his
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Father as he takes his last breath. Everyone here who knows Christ as Lord, Savior, and Treasure should have that same confidence.
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So look with amazement at how Jesus spent his last moments. And in these four
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Gospels, we have seen seven practices how through praying for those who ignorantly rebel against God, pointing people to the only one who grants salvation, caring for his family, bearing the full fury of his
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Father's wrath, showing the vulnerability of his humanity, proclaiming that he has conquered, and as we have just seen, trusting his
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Father to receive his earthly soul. As Jesus was mocked and beaten and humiliated through crucifixion, the perfect man carried himself in the perfect way.
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This ought to fill us with amazement. If the cross does not move you, there's something seriously wrong.
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As we sang this morning, I don't know if you felt, you should feel something, right? As we sing these songs about what
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Jesus did, as we hear the Word of God, it should move us. The ones the cross moves with deep emotion are the ones who realize how deserving one is to be eternally separated from God's blessing, but realizing that you won't be because of what he did on your behalf.
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To everyone who knows that Jesus paid the full penalty for your sins, you should be filled with awe and wonder knowing what he did.
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As the old hymn says, maybe I'll sing it. It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished.
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But this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my ransom.
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What a sweet song that is. And many people can sing that far better than I just did.
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Many of you here. But may this be the story for everyone in this room.
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Now, I'm going to close by reading the end of Matthew 27. And this is going to prepare us for next Sunday, the glorious resurrection.
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But here is the darkness before the dawn. Verses 51 -66
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And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
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The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
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When the centurion and those who were with him keeping watch over Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said,
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Truly, this was the Son of God. There were also many women there looking on from a distance who had followed
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Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
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When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.
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He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.
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And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock.
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And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other
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Mary were there sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the
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Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how that imposter said while he was still alive,
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After three days I will rise. Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead and the last fraud will be worse than the first.
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Pilate said to them, You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.
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So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
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Okay, so he's in the tomb. And next week, we're going to look at what happens next.
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But at this time, let's bow our heads in prayer. Father in heaven,
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I thank you, Lord, for the seven statements that Jesus made.
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He died this humiliating death, but you gave him the strength to say seven instructions that everyone here needs to hear.
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And my prayer, Lord, is that everyone in this room would have a sincere relationship with Jesus Christ.
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He paid the full penalty for our sins. He exhausted the holy wrath that you,
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Lord, poured out on him. And we give you praise that as he said, it is finished.
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And so, Lord, apply this to everyone this morning right where they are at. In Jesus' name, amen.