Final Words On Calvary & What They Mean Today

My heart is burdened, of course, for this topic. Good Friday, we know that it was a terrible day for just the early disciples, and a couple days later, the joy came back. And I titled it, Final Words on Calvary.

Final Words on Calvary. And then I added what they mean to us today so we can glean some practical application. Because I believe God's Word is so applicable to us today.

And what is commonly called Golgotha, have you heard that term before? Or place of the skull. That's where Jesus was crucified. But thinking about this message, before Golgotha, there was Gethsemane.

And Jesus actually prayed. And I came across this clip, and I want to play it real quick to kind of set the mood. We can turn up the volume and even hit the light down a little bit.

Let's keep the volume up if we can. That's Jesus praying to the Father in Aramaic before He goes to the cross. And that's where He was arrested.

And then He stood before the Sanhedrin and then Pilate. And what I was reflecting on is how important prayer was in His life. Before He went to the cross, He went to the garden to strengthen Himself in the Lord.

And I also thought about a lonely time. This was a very lonely time for Him in that garden. Not only just knowing what's ahead of Him, and He actually prayed, Lord, take this cup from me.

Father, take this cup. But not my will, but Your will be done. And during this time, Peter was full of faith earlier, but now he's full of fear, and he begins to follow Jesus at a distance.

And as he's following Him at a distance, he began to deny Him. And I really thought of many today, there's always distance and drifting before there is denial. Maybe some of you here this evening, it began with a slow drift.

And that drift, if you don't anchor yourself and get back to God, it will begin to distance you. And then you'll begin to deny Jesus. Well, I wouldn't come out and outright deny Him, but in the way we live our lives sometimes, what happens is seeking God is replaced with comfort and complacency.

The two C's are deadly to the Christian walk. I love to be comfortable, don't you? Sometimes I text, I'm like, can we turn the A.C. on? And it's okay, but when that comfort and that complacency begins to draw us away from God and we begin to drift like Peter, eventually, He never thought He would deny Him. And of course, we know He was later filled with the Spirit and spoke boldly for Him.

But for tonight, what we're talking about, I won't have you here a long time obviously, but it's why the cross? That's asked sometimes in Christian circles and unbelievers. Why the cross? And I wish I could give you a great theological reason, and this and this, and all we have is Scripture to go by. And it's Matthew 20.

Verse 2, it begins, it says, to give His life as a ransom for many. And that's where we get the term I've talked about before, substitutionary atonement. So God made Him who knew no sin, so Jesus, right? Blameless, spotless, innocent.

God made Him who did not have sin in Him. He was tempted at all points like we are, but without sin. And God made Him sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

So, many of you know, but some of you don't, sin comes with a price. The wages of sin is death. There is unbelievers are under the condemnation of God.

There's just no pleasant way to talk about the truth of penal substitution or substitutionary atonement. That wrath, that penalty for sin, it had to be paid. It has to be paid.

And so the cross was God's chosen method. And we can get into a lot of other things about why particularly that form of death and why the slow, agonizing death, but He became sin for us so that we can become the righteousness of God. Basically, we can stand righteously before God.

How incredible is that? I mean, back in the day, no man can stand before God and live. But because of what Jesus did, we can do that. And before He gets to the cross, He's carrying the cross.

And I'm just going to put a picture up there. I didn't get too graphic, but it's just remembering Him carrying that cross up to Golgotha and having to turn that cross over to someone else because it was just getting too heavy. But I want to read something from A.W. Tozer.

It's not going to be on the screen. I just want you to listen to this as you reflect on that. Sadly, many today water down the gospel and avoid talking about the cross.

They want the Bible to be more appealing and marketable, but the truth is not marketable. We are to guard it, proclaim it, and defend it, but never compromise it. Okay, I guess I wrote that.

This is Tozer coming up. But A.W. Tozer addressed this decades ago. There has come in modern times... Think about this.

He's probably writing in the 50's or 60's. There has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It's like the old cross, but a different.

The likenesses are superficial, but the differences are fundamental. The old cross slew men. The new cross entertains them.

The old cross condemned. The new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh.

The new cross encourages it. The old cross brought tears and blood. The new cross brings laughter.

Any objection to the caring of our present day golden calf, lukewarm Christianity is met with the triumphant reply, but we are winning them. And winning them to what? To true discipleship? To true cross caring? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To the crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To despising of the world's treasure? To love for God? To total commitment to Christ? Of course, the answer to all of these questions is no. What he means by a clean cross is you can have a cross maybe up, but you don't ever get dirty with it.

You don't talk about the things that might offend and they might upset. And you make the cross very palatable. It doesn't offend the newcomers.

We don't want to do that, do we? Well, the Bible does. This pleasant new cross view often leaves people confused and deceived because they believe in a self-promoting, self-seeking Christianity that bears no resemblance to Jesus' sobering call to die to self. For this reason, it's been said that one of the greatest mission fields in the world today is the church as a whole in America.

Think about how many people are bored when we're talking about the cross. Or they're yawning, or they're looking at their phone. It's like no big deal.

It's lost its fervor. It should shock us from time to time, shouldn't it? I mean, I want to put up some clips from the Passion of the Christ, but some people say it might not be a good idea if they've got their kids in here. So I understand it, but we have to remember that.

And if you listened to Adrian Rogers on the radio, he said this last week, and I'm glad I remembered it. But he talks about a man who his dog wouldn't stop barking, wouldn't listen to him, so he took him out in the boat and he cut off his paws and threw him in the water. Of course, he couldn't swim.

But look how offended everybody gets on that. It's not even true. Oh, people sit up straight.

Like what? I can't believe that. How much more the crucifixion and what Jesus went through. Now we'll just put up his face and we can reflect on some of the final words.

I love Isaiah. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth. And so we just don't glance or gloss over that or even glance through it.

He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. And if you know your Bible, you know there's probably a good reference here that he's talking about how the Passover lamb was led to the slaughter. The lamb didn't know it was going to die.

He knew he was going to die. But silent. He opened not His mouth.

And it's just every time I read that, I'm sure you do too, you read that part with Pontius Pilate and he's like, why don't you answer me? Why don't you answer me? Don't you know I have the power to set you free? And I love the words that follow. You'd have no power over me at all unless it was given to you from above. No wonder they said we could not arrest Jesus.

No man ever spoke like this man. Authority. Power.

And He laid down His life as a sheep that is led to the slaughter. And you can feel in the Garden of Gethsemane there, you can feel... I mean, they believe the corpuscles can burst and literally blood can come out. And the Bible records that in such agony.

And Father, take this cup. And the cup was often this cup that would be poured out. It would represent... Isaiah talked about the prophets talked about the wrath of God being poured out.

And so He's like, take this cup from Me. God, I can't go through this, but not My will, Your will be done. So if we look at the final words on Calvary, the final words that are recorded for us, number one, this blows my mind, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. And I actually put this in the book of Acts in a couple weeks, but for some reason, I'm thinking of it a lot today. I don't know if you've been there, but I've been guilty of this.

We think, okay, we become a Christian. We're good. Now I'm just kind of waiting for heaven.

God saved me to go to heaven. And I want life to just be kind of carefree. I don't want to ruffle feathers.

I just want to live comfortable. But you are saved to actually make a difference here. I don't know if we are saved just for heaven.

That's the end result. But we're also saved to reflect the image of Christ in us. And so that really helped me when I remember and when I think about that, okay, well, you can really get through life a lot easier knowing, yeah, challenges might come.

Difficulties might come upon us. Sickness, health issues, finances. I'm not here to live a comfortable life.

Don't get me wrong. I would like to, but it's the mindset just like, I just got to get through this and make it to heaven. You'd actually hold in a lot less offenses.

Anybody ever offend you and upset you? You'd be able to roll with the punches. And the Bible actually records how much more we should forgive because we ourselves have been. Forgiven.

One of his last words, I mean, they beat him. I mean, the crown of thorns, I mean, the thorns were inches and just pushing that on his head, the blood coming down the cat of nine tails with the glass and the bones and just ripping his skin off and beating him and slapping him prophesied to us now. I mean, at what point do you think any of us would have snapped? So, okay, that's enough.

10,000 legions of angels. Let's go. Or even he just spoke the word.

I mean, we don't know what kind of power, what authority he had. Thank God he went to Calvary. But he said, Father, forgive them for what they're doing.

If you've been here a while, you know I love this verse. God demonstrated His own love toward us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. I'll never forget that day.

In Courts Hill, coming back to the Lord, when I was opening my Bible, and I just began crying, realizing even while I was living in my sin, blaspheming Him, I could care less. There's my mom praying, right? And even in that, His love, He died for me. Even while I was still in sin and sinning and rebellious, the blood was still there.

I just had to repent and believe. He died for our rebellion. Then He said, today you will be with Me in Paradise.

Today you will be with Me in Paradise. The certainty of salvation. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Now, I'm going to tackle this tomorrow if any of you are interested. What happened on Saturday? Did Jesus go down to hell? Did He stay asleep? Did He go to heaven? Well, I'm not going to tell you tonight. He didn't go to hell and get punished.

We know that for certain. But there's a very interesting thing that happened on Saturday. When God's silent, He's still moving.

Maybe that's for some of you this evening. When God's still silent, when He's silent, nothing's happening. You don't see anything.

You've ever been there? I live that. He's still moving. He's still working behind the scenes.

Because we often want to pull ourselves out of challenges. We want the person to hurry up and change. Spouses, I see this.

Single, I just want to hurry up and meet someone. Come on, God. I want Mrs. Right.

Are you Mr. Right? Takes time. Takes time. But I love the certainty of our salvation.

And I truly believe we are given the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit actually seals us until the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit seals you.

The Holy Spirit's also given to you as a guarantee of your inheritance. I'm not making that up. How many of you know I'm quoting Scripture? Thank God for that.

I am so happy my salvation is not contingent on what I'm doing each week. Could you imagine that? Man, I don't know about this week. Oh, it was tough.

This week, okay, I'm back and back. You know, I'm doing great. And then a month or two goes by and let's say you drift and like, oh, am I not saved anymore? I mean, that would drive me nuts because it's not true.

The certainty of salvation. Today, you will be with me in paradise. It happens because people say, what happens when we die? Well, we know we're with Jesus.

Woman, behold your son. And son, behold your mother. The compassionate Savior.

He cared for his mom. One of the last things. Dying on the cross.

I mean, by this point, life is about ready to exit His body. We said take care of my mom. Compassionate Savior.

We have to remember that balance that we find in Jesus. Yes, He's a lion. He's coming like I talked about Sunday with the eyes blazing and that sword coming out of His mouth and treading the winepress and fierceness and wrath of God, but He's also a compassionate Savior.

And then what a moment that Mark records, my God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Is that just perplexing? Sad? I mean, if you're just glancing through Scriptures and you got your mind on what's going on in your schedule it's hard to really capture. I would encourage you, turn off your phone, find a quiet place. Get a quiet heart and find a quiet hour.

And just saturate your mind. Meditate on it. Because you can tell, my God, my God, why have You forsaken me? And many believe that this was the moment of separation and propitiation.

Separation. There's something happening here. Why have You forsaken me? And the moment of propitiation is when at a certain point Jesus had to absorb that wrath.

And commentaries are divided because was it right when He died? Was it right before He died? I don't know. But it could have been at this moment. And the language there, as many of you know, Eli, Eli, Lama, Zabatchini.

My God, my God, why have You left me? Why is that connection gone? Can you imagine feeling that? I mean, obviously, He must have felt something. Dying on that cross, was there a moment where just the darkness and the blackness of that separation? I don't know. I don't want to read too much into Scripture.

It's not there. But this is a cry. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? And then John records, I thirst, I thirst.

The living water is thirsty. Remember all the references come and drink of this well. I will give you water and you'll never thirst again.

All you believe in Me, as the Scriptures say, out of your belly will flow these rivers of living water. I am the living water. I am the resurrection and the life.

He said, I thirst. It's a good reminder that He was tempted in all points. Hebrews 4. How many of you, well, maybe don't put up your hand, but were you aware that Jesus was tempted? Was sinned? Isn't that interesting? Here's the key though.

He never sinned. It says He was tempted in all points like we are, yet He was without sin. It actually goes on to say we have a High Priest that intercedes for us.

And He can relate to our struggles. And then John, His final words. This is amazing too.

You would think, just die, but He says, it is finished. They recorded it. And the word there is tetelestai, I believe.

And it means bringing something to a completion. It's over. My purpose here on earth is over.

It is finished. The wages of sin have been paid. So it is a great time to ask.

I know I'm sure all of you are secure here, but maybe those listening later, or maybe some here, has your debt been forgiven? Has your debt been forgiven? Because the wages of our sin is death. There's no compromising. There's no when you become a millionaire, you'll pay it off.

This debt can never be paid off except by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Well, that's just what Christians believe. And that's what Christians teach.

Listen, if you are really sincere, there's answers for the skeptic. You look at the centrality of the Gospel message. You look at all of creation groaning.

You look at the historical references. You look at the eyewitnesses' accounts. I mean, the biggest thing for me when I was just reading all the different things, Fox Book of Martyrs, and when you read how the early disciples died, so many people were killed because of their faith.

Especially the early disciples. They were actually murdered. I mean, it wasn't just shot.

It was torture. And they all went willingly. Nobody said, okay, hold on.

Before you cut off my head, let me tell you where the body's at. So how do you have all these people dying for a lie? Nobody. 4,000 religions.

No empty tomb. Except one. You can look at the historical accuracy of the Bible in the archaeological discoveries.

The prophetic accuracy. And to me, it actually, when you really open up, it makes perfect sense. It makes perfect... Now, I don't understand why the cross... I'm not God.

I've got... All I know is I'm not going to go to hell over a mystery. Because I fully... I don't understand how my car works. Put the key in and turn.

Something ignites the pistons and the oil. Like how does... The reason many people are skeptical and critical is because they don't want there to be a God. They want to be God of their own life.

They don't want some being telling them what to do. And just think how stupid that is. I do.

I want God telling me what to do. How to live. How He wants to love me.

How to pursue Him. How to be compassionate. How to be filled with joy and peace.

I do. I love that. Creator of the universe wants to tell me how to live.

It's like you are so prideful and arrogant. Unbelievable. The wages of sin have been paid.

Has your debt been forgiven? And people know because there's a conviction there. You know, if you're struggling like, I don't know, and I hear this being a pastor, of course, in the prayer room, I hear it a lot. If I died, I don't know.

I don't know. Now, sometimes a person can be a believer, I believe, but just be really far from God, like a prodigal, and it's not a good spot. But majority of the time, if you don't know where you're going, it's probably because you're going in the wrong direction.

Because there is a certainty. Once a person believes, I thank God it's not like these other religions. All they do is believe, right? I believe and I have this burning in my bosom.

I believe because the Watchtower Society told me. I believe because the Papacy told me. I believe and I can just keep going on, right? Buddhas and Hindus.

I can just keep going. Belief. They believe.

It sounds good. But this belief, believing in the true and living God, faith and belief, now the Holy Spirit comes and resides in the believer. No other, nothing.

How's that? So now not only do I have scriptural confirmation, historical confirmation, archaeological confirmation, the martyrs, the eyewitness accounts, I mean all these different... I mean, if Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, you can get books if you want. I mean, it's like there's so much evidence. It's amazing.

But the greatest thing I believe, thank God for this verse, the Holy Spirit within a believer cries, Abba, Father. There's certainty. Like you can tell me whatever you want.

I have the certainty. Because now the Holy Spirit has sealed me and you. There's a guarantee.

Now there's a love for God's Word. Now why aren't I cussing anymore? Why do I love people? What's wrong with me? Everything has changed. Where's this peace coming from? I don't even understand this peace.

And you begin to experience the life of the Spirit wing within you. That's why Jesus said, when I leave, when I'm glorified, the Holy Spirit will come upon and into a believer. And so you have the internal witness is what they call it.

The internal witness. Thank God for that. Aren't you glad for that? I'm so glad I didn't live in the Old Testament.

I feel sorry for those guys. Boy, God said, do this, do this, do this. And they didn't have the Holy Spirit.

He would say, you know what? I'm going to put my Spirit into Samson. And I'm going to withdraw. I'm going to put my Spirit in David.

Possibly withdrew. I'm going to put my Spirit... Do you know He put His Spirit into Saul? Saul? He prophesied. They go, Saul, one of the prophets? And God says, I'm sorry I even made Saul because of disobedience.

And that distressing Spirit came upon Saul, no longer the Holy Spirit. Thank God we live in the New Testament. Thank God for the promise of the Father.

And I said earlier, Golgotha. Golgotha, it's a place of death. Oh, I had one more verse.

I love this one. Luke 23. Think about Jesus.

Why have you forsaken Me? I thirst. It is finished. And then, Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit.

Wow. Wow. And how does that apply to us today? Well, I think a decision must be made to surrender to God.

Maybe for the believer, a decision needs to be made today to fully surrender. Have you ever surrendered to God? You're a believer, but you kind of pull back some stuff. I don't want to get too serious about God.

I don't want people to label me. Listen, I found out I'd rather have God label me. I'd rather have God label me a man after my own heart.

I'd rather have God label me than people labeling you. Fully surrender. Isn't that so important for the believer? Full surrender.

And I believe there's an internal struggle that happens. And we don't want to give God everything because we still have what they call the Adamic nature. The nature of Adam.

Holding us away from Him. And so maybe tonight, a decision must be made to surrender. If you're an unbeliever, you've never made that decision.

You've only been contemplating it. Or if you're a believer, to fully surrender and give God everything. Like, Lord, I'm tired of struggling with this.

I'm tired of contending for my marriage. And this, I'm tired of dealing with this. I'm tired of holding this back.

I'm tired of money. I'm trapped by money. I'm trapped by this.

I don't want to give you everything. Because when you give God everything, when you fully surrender, He's an all-consuming fire. You let Him burn.

You want to get to church. I can't wait to get up tomorrow morning. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to get up tomorrow morning and just put on worship and begin seeking God.

I can't wait to come back tomorrow night. Doesn't mean that happens all the time. I ride roller coasters too.

Up and down emotional roller coasters. We'll probably never put them on the stage, but how many of you know what I'm talking about? Okay. I guess last Sunday at church had a roller coaster and the pastor wrote on it for maybe a sermon illustration.

I'm not sure. But Golgotha. Golgotha.

It's a place of death, but it gives life. An innocent man replaced the guilty. Yet they still cry today.

Crucify Him. Don't they? Crucify Him. We just talked last Sunday.

He came into Jerusalem. They said, Hosanna. Hosanna.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Here He is. Hosanna in the highest.

And the palm branches. And everybody, here comes our Messiah. And then now, a week later, crucify Him.

The crowd was louder and the Pharisees were working them up. Crucify Him. And the reason they say it today is because they love their sin.

I hope you see what's going on in America. We have such a divide. It's a demonic divide, I believe.

I love my sin. I love my sexual sin. Don't come to me with the Word of God, but be forewarned.

I love this quote from Thomas Hooker, a Puritan, back, I believe, 1500 or 1600. Be forewarned. If you will live in your sins here, expect to be damned with them hereafter.

And the irony is people say, I don't know about that church or pastor. He is hellfire and brimstone. But guys, this is truth.

This is truth. Those who come up here and are going to act like they spent time with God, they're going to open His Word, they're going to teach from His Word, but yet they're going to walk on eggshells. I don't know if there's any newcomers here tonight.

I know such and such brought their neighbor. Oh my goodness. Boy, oh boy.

That's a coward. It really is. Because you don't say it maliciously and arrogantly and angrily and Bible-thumping, hitting the pulpit, but you say it.

Guys, if you live with your sins here, expect to be damned with them thereafter. That's how it works. That's biblical.

And sometimes you need that. You don't have any idea how many people have left here before, upset. Oh, I did not like what that guy said.

But for some reason, they keep coming. See, it's just enough to... I can't sleep well. True preaching should make people feel uncomfortable from time to time in their sin.

Again, that's kind of how the way it works. Love them, encourage them, but point them to the truth. The rugged cross.

And it does break my heart because Jesus said, I died for them. Don't you dare. Don't you dare soften the message.

Tell them about the shed blood on Calvary. Tell them about the sin. Can you imagine talking to Jesus? Pastor, talk to Jesus and explaining why they had to water down their message? Your death offended me? It's just too... And I've heard of churches.

They tell worship leaders, don't do any songs about the blood of Christ. Guest speakers, don't talk about hell and damnation and those kind of things. We're really seeker sensitive and we're really trying to reach our community.

Well, they're going to fall when they reach. When they reach out, you're not giving them the truth. And again, you know my heart.

I'm not trying to come in here guns blazing, but I don't see reading Paul, reading Peter, reading James, go look at Jude tonight. I don't see a watered down gospel. Because here's why.

When you shoot people straight, the truth penetrates and it offends. Oswald Chambers actually said, the truth hurts and it offends until there's nothing left to hurt and to offend. It digs deep.

What it does basically is it breaks you down in order to build you up. Does it not? It's like surgery. It's like surgery.

It cuts and it reveals and it shows our need. I even think the greater the picture you paint, the more you can highlight the Savior. So the more I can show people the bad news, yes, hell, eternity separated from God, damnation, wrath of God, all these things that are biblical, yeah, that's the bad news.

But let me tell you about the good news. The good news is all you have to do is repent and believe and accept God's gracious gift. Well, I don't know.

I don't believe. Ask Him. Ask Him.

If a person is truly sincere, they will say, you know what, Lord, if You're out there, would You please show me? Wouldn't you think anybody in their right mind will at least do that? But no. They're so anchored into their sin and they love their sin. They hate the truth.

They hate the name of Jesus. Because every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Christ is... I truly believe there's a spiritual battle and when you name the name of Jesus, even the demons tremble. They don't want... Why are they arresting ladies outside of abortion clinics in Europe? The UK.

Arresting them outside of an abortion clinic praying. The thought police. You can have a table out there at the Unitarian Church of the Hindus.

No, there's no problem. You're good. I could go to LA City.

They won't invite me back again because I pray in Jesus' name. But I went down there when it was Mike Antonovich and the guy, he's like, right before I go out, just remember, just don't pray in Jesus' name. I'm like, what? Did you guys research me before you asked me? You can actually go and pray in Satan's name.

And chant in city council meetings in our nation. You follow any of this stuff? They'll read all hell Satan at the city council meeting. Can I come in here and pray in Jesus' name? No, no, no, no, no.

Why? Because they welcome the darkness. They're afraid of the light. That's what's happening.

And so guys, as much as I love our country, as much as I love revival, we are seeing such a huge spiritual upheaval. Even Satanism has been... I mean, 50 years ago, not even Satanism was glorified. Some of you know, right? The older crowd? But now the Grammys, you can actually dress up as Satan and have the horns and dress in red and have these women dancing provocatively and like blood coming out of your mouth and whatever.

It's like, oh, this is cool. No, it's satanic and it will damn you. It will damn the soul to hell.

And that's why Jesus cried out with that loud voice. That's the finality. That's the final thing after He gets through all these words.

Jesus cried out with a loud voice and He yielded up His Spirit. And this picture of a Roman soldier captures this moment. You know the verse, I won't go, but the soldier that said, truly this was the Son of God.

And this was such an amazing moment to me. I mean, I don't know. Sometimes if I can just picture myself being there and all the things that happened, because number one, the Bible says the veil in the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.

Picture a four inch thick curtain all the way up there. And it is just split right down the middle. The veil is torn.

Completely annihilated. That in and of itself, if I was a Pharisee, I would have been fall down on my face and worship. What's the big deal? That's sacred.

That's sacred. Nobody goes on the other side of that. Nobody except once a year, the high priest hoping he's good enough, hoping he has the blood with the bowls of gold and bulls and goats and rams.

And he comes into the holy of holies and he burns on that altar and he petitions the people for God. And God says, Hey, it's been paid in full. Gee, it's finished.

No longer do you have to go through a man once a year. No longer. You can walk boldly through the throne of grace.

The blood of bulls and goats no longer saves you. It's he said, we don't basically, we don't need this anymore. Blasphemy.

We don't need this anymore. And that veil, I can just, I wonder if it was just ripped off and throw it. Can you imagine? Unbelievable.

And then the earthquake, the sky, I mean, just the son of God on the, and the scars, the sky's dark and the, or I'm guarantee it wasn't a little mild shaking. It was the earth quaked because it says the rocks were split. I love what Matthew Henry said, commentary in the 1600s.

This earthquake signified the mighty shock. The fatal blow now given to the devil's kingdom. So vigorous was the assault by Christ that the earth trembled.

Well, these guys could write, couldn't they? No phones distracting them and just walk out in nature and see God. The rocks were split and the graves were open. What? It says the graves were open and the dead, they couldn't go before Jesus.

He was the first fruit of the resurrection. And God just says, you know what? I'm going to, I'm getting rid of the Holy, the Holy of Holies is open. This is blasphemy.

Basically like God ripping his, his, his garment. This is blasphemy. I'm going to, I'm going to shake the earth and then where the rocks, the very rocks are going to split.

I mean, you could, you could picture the possibly thunder, lightning, the darkness. And now you got dead people walking around. Oh, it's Friday, but Sunday's coming.

Praise God. So I'm going to have the team come up. I'm excited.

Just God, Jesus. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for enduring the cross.