So, Matthew 27 and part two, and just as I have been doing, I'll just remind you where
we got to in part one. We saw Judas repenting, which didn't result in salvation, as he's
a son of perdition and he went and hanged himself. So obviously, it had nothing to do
with getting saved, as we all know here. Why he repented is open to opinion. He claimed
it was because he had betrayed the innocent blood, but what was going on in his head,
we don't know, we can assume. The chief priest bought the potter's field, known as the Field
of Blood, which fulfilled an original, you could say more cryptic, prophecy by Jeremiah
made clearer by Zechariah. And then we looked at Jeremiah 32, because that's where we seem
to have been pointed, which promised that God's people eventually return, how that's
coming in millennial reign. After that, Jesus was before Pontius Pilate, and then there
was a trade-off between Barabbas and Jesus. The scapegoat originally pictured in the Old
Testament offering in Leviticus 16, with Barabbas representing them both, both the sinner, you
could say, saved by Christ's sacrifice, as well as for me being a picture of the devil
as well, with the people being offered the choice, and the Jewish leaders persuading
the people to choose Barabbas, a picture of the devil, rather than Christ. And we talked
about how nothing's really changed there, has it, and we just see that to this day,
these people just trying to persuade the multitudes to choose the devil in one way or another.
Then that first part of the chapter ended with the Roman soldiers mocking and beating
him as well, and it said in verse 28 where we were last week, and they stripped him and
put on him a scarlet robe, and when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon
his head, and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked
him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote
him on the head, and after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and
put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. Unbelievable what the Lord
Jesus Christ went through. And then we get into verse 32 where it says, And as they came
out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled to bear his cross.
And I'd like to pray before we continue with the second part of the chapter. Father, thank
you for your word. Thank you for this great chapter of the Bible. So many talking points
here, so many points that could be expanded upon. Please help me to just preach what I've
chosen to in my notes to kind of go into more. Help me to preach all of that just accurately
and clearly and boldly. Lord, I feel with your spirit. Help me to say what you'd want
me to say, and not to say what you wouldn't want me to say. Help everyone here to just
have attentive ears, Lord. Help everyone to really just pay attention and to take from
this what you'd want them to take from it, Lord, for your word to really speak to them
and get into their hearts. In Jesus' name, we pray all this. Amen. Okay, so there's a
lot just in this short verse alone, which is why I didn't kind of end on that last week.
I wanted to look at this quite a bit. Verse 32 said, And as they came out, they found
a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled to bear his cross. Turn to Hebrews chapter
13 with that in mind. So firstly, it said, And as they came out, they brought Jesus out
of the city to kill him. A command that we see in the Old Testament for blasphemers being
outside the camp, we see them taking blasphemers outside the camp, among others. This was also
kind of pictured, at least Christ being taken out, by the command earlier on in the Old
Testament for the animals to be burnt outside the camp, including the unblemished heifer
without spot. And if you look at Hebrews 13 and verse 11, it says this, For the bodies
of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin,
this is Hebrews 13 and 11, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might
sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. That means outside, by the
way. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, again, outside the camp that is
bearing his reproach. So this was also an extra approach to Christ to be cast outside
of his own vineyard, you could say, to be slain. And the point being here is that we're
encouraged to bear a similar approach as well, aren't we? And cast out, rejected often for
bearing the truth, bearing our own cross. Yeah, and we bear our own cross really by
denying ourselves, don't we? Deny ourselves, bear our own cross. And often we are outcast
for that, aren't we? And that can be a big part of the struggle, is knowing that you're
going to be mocked, you're going to be scorned, is being outcast by whether it's family, friends,
people in your workplace, people from your history and everything else. And a lot of
people find it very hard, don't they? They find it very difficult. And, you know, here
it's talking about, let us go there, in Hebrews 13, 13, let us go forth therefore unto him
without the camp, bearing his reproach. It's a reproach that we bear, don't we, the reproach
of Jesus Christ. And it's a real Jesus Christ. It's not the reproach. There isn't much reproach,
is there, out there for the world's Jesus Christ, is there? The kind of love, love,
you know, peace hippie, dress-wearing Jesus Christ. That's not really, you're not bearing
reproach for him. Everyone's happy with the world's reproach of Jesus Christ, not with
the Bible's reproach of Jesus Christ. We have to bear reproach for him, don't we? Which
we then see with Simon the Cyrenian back in Matthew 27. So if you go back to Matthew 27,
we said in verse 32, then as they came out, so this is going outside of the city, they
found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled to bear his cross. Now Cyrene
is what we now know of as Tripoli in upper Libya, in North Africa. It's basically over
a thousand miles from Jerusalem. Now, they weren't flying and they weren't even driving.
That's a long distance. Whether or not the guy could have got on, you know, whether he
had some sort of animal to help take him away, a horse or an ass or, you know, whatever
it was, it's still at a long distance. And if he walked it, wow, I mean, you're talking
like a month journey or something, yeah? So he's come all the way there for the Passover,
you'd assume, wouldn't you? And now he's carrying the cross of Jesus. So he's done a bit of
a trek to now have to carry the cross as well. And you could argue that this is a picture
of someone that's willing to put the work in for God. Now, this has got nothing to do
with salvation, okay? Just to remind you, okay? We saw obviously one picture of salvation
with Barabbas, didn't we? Just getting swapped for Jesus Christ. But look, this is talking
about discipleship, bearing the cross for Jesus Christ. And isn't it sad that so many
people get saved and then won't bear the cross of Jesus Christ? But Simon the Cyrenean, it
looks like he is, and we're seeing someone that's putting some graft in. Now, you could
look at this and many might say, well, they compelled or forced him, didn't they? They
compelled, which means to force, Simon the Cyrenean to bear his cross. But don't God's
enemies compel you to? Wouldn't you say that? Because I'll tell you what, God's enemies
compel me to bear his cross, okay? That's one of the driving forces in my life is the
enemies of God out there. And when you come across them and when you deal with them, that's
one of the reasons why when churches, when the people of God get persecuted, we often
go on to do more, don't we? We go on to great things because they compel us to do more.
They compel us to go out and preach the word. They compel us to go and bear the reproach,
bear the shame. They compel us to go out and do more when they're attacking us, especially
when they're attacking us according to the word, because they're just proving everything
that we're reading and they're just strengthening our faith even more. And here they compelled
him, but for me, we should also be getting compelled by these people as well, right?
They compelled him to bear his cross. And here's something else interesting about this
man though. So we're going to go to another point on Simon the Cyrenean and obviously
there are probably sermons all over the place about compelling, you know, Simon the Cyrenean
to bear his cross. But I want to look at this as well. Turn to Mark chapter 15. Mark chapter
15. Obviously we've got a lot of other verses to get through tonight, but I would just like
to look at this quickly. There's something I've been thinking about a bit. Mark 15, and
this is a parallel passage and verse 21 says this, and they compel one Simon the Cyrenean,
this is Mark 15, 21, who passed by coming out of the country, the father of Alexander
and Rufus to bear his cross. So it makes a clear point of who his sons are, right? Alexander
and Rufus. Now often we see people described by who their father are, don't we? Whereas
here it's who his sons are, Alexander and Rufus. Now, who are they? Who are they? There
is a Rufus mentioned once in Romans 16 and verse 13, you can turn if you don't have to
know. When Paul is sending out greetings, he says salute, this is Romans 16, 13, salute
Rufus chosen in the Lord and his mother and mine. So Romans 16, 13 says salute Rufus chosen
in the Lord and his mother and mine. So this is Paul, you know, many decades later and
he's talking about salute to a guy called Rufus. And I don't know, you don't hear that.
That's the only other time the name is mentioned. I don't think it's a particularly common name.
I would assume this is probably the same guy. Considering Mark's made a point of mentioning
who his sons are, hasn't he? Otherwise, why even say who his sons are, yeah? So Rufus
sounds like a good guy, doesn't he? He said salute him, even his mother as well. Mark
specifically mentioned him. Paul asked him to be saluted. So there's an interesting point
there that Simon, who bears Jesus Christ's cross, ends up with at least one of his sons
following in his footsteps, doesn't he? So he's bearing the cross of Christ and he ends
up with a son who is being mentioned and read about for the last couple of thousand
years now as someone being saluted by the Apostle Paul. I'd imagine this guy was a pretty
good Christian, yeah, a pretty strong guy. And it's a great example, isn't it? There's
a guy following in Christ's footsteps, at least to some degree, bearing his cross. It's
a picture of discipleship, isn't it? And his son, one of his sons, Rufus, goes on to looks
like, do some great things, yeah, chosen in the Lord. His wife is being saluted by
Paul too, because he said his mother as well. Again, if I'm right, and I don't see any reason
to think that this Rufus isn't the same Rufus, his wife is being saluted. So again, someone
who's bearing the cross of Christ, following in his footsteps, his wife's being saluted
by Paul, looking good, right? But where's his other son, Alexander? Because Mark did
name Alexander, didn't he? So Mark named both. He didn't just name Rufus, he named
Rufus and Alexander. So for me, again, maybe, look, you could argue, and I'm not, you know,
you don't have to be dogmatic about this, but you could argue, well, you're reading
into the text here. But nothing's, you know, there's an old saying, isn't there, nothing
incidental, coincidental, or accidental in the Bible. And he mentioned Rufus and Alexander.
So let's see who Alexander is. Turn to 1 Timothy 1. In the New Testament, there's an Alexander
named a few times. There's one who was the kindred of the high priest in Acts 4. We can
assume that's got nothing to do with him, considering Simon is a Cyrenian from a thousand
miles away. I don't think this is him. Okay, then there's an Alexander that the Jews in
Ephesus put forward as a spokesperson in Acts 19. So again, unlikely. Okay, I don't think
that that's got anything to do with it as well. Then we've got 1 Timothy 1 and verse
18, where it says this, 1 Timothy 1.18. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according
to the prophecies which went before me, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare,
holding faith and a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning faith, have
made shipwreck, of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they
may learn not to blaspheme. And like I said, the other times we've seen an Alexander mentioned
so far in the New Testament, to me, I don't see, you know, any link at all. But then you've
got this guy just named as Alexander. He's delivered him unto Satan that they may learn
not to blaspheme. And this is the same terminology as in 1 Corinthians 5 for being kicked out
of the church. So now on top of that, we also then have an Alexander mentioned in 2 Timothy
4. So if you turn there quickly, so we've got one who apparently he's put away faith,
concerning faith, he's made it shipwreck. He's been basically kicked out of a church,
delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that he may learn not to blaspheme.
So this guy's a blasphemous guy. And then we've got another Alexander, possibly the
same one, we're not sure. He's signing off the letter of 2 Timothy to 2 Timothy, obviously.
In chapter 4, in verse 13, it says, the cloak that I left at Troas, with Carpus when thou
comest, bring with thee in the books, but especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith
did me much evil, the Lord reward him according to his works, of whom be thou where, that
means basically beware, also, for he had greatly withstood our words. Now, is this the same
Alexander as 1 Timothy 1? Maybe. I mean, maybe he's not. Did he get kicked out and then go
more downhill after that? Maybe, maybe not. Or maybe they're set for people, but do you
think one of them might be Simon the Cyrenian's son? I think probably most likely. He's named
for a reason. Why is he naming Rufus and Alexander? And look, Mark 15 21 said, and they compel
one Simon the Cyrenian, who passed by coming out of the country, the father of Alexander
and Rufus, to bear his cross. That sounds like it's got to be one of these Alexanders.
And I don't know, I think it's probably possibly a warning to us dads out there,
that, look, you can do great things for God, you can have children following your footsteps,
but you've got to be careful not to neglect your young kids as well, who can often go on to then
blame God, because he's a reason that dad isn't interested, dad's not around, dad's always busy,
dad doesn't have time for me at all, dad doesn't do anything for me, and end up having someone
who's maybe at the least a lousy Christian, or even worse, reprobate concern of the faith,
which is probably at least Alexander the coppersmith, and maybe something to think
about, huh? Because on one hand you go, oh this Rufus, great, the wife's great, and then you've
got another son who's gone downhill, and just doing great things for God doesn't make us
great dads, does it? Doing great things for God is only part of it, we have to be careful that we
also do great things when we're parenting as well, yeah, and obviously ultimately that is for God as
well, isn't it? Because children are in heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his
reward. Maybe not, maybe there's a sermon there, maybe there isn't, but we're going to continue
with with Matthew's Gospel anyway, just something to think about. Matthew 27 and verse 33 says this,
and when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say a place of a skull,
they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall, and when he had tasted thereof he would not drink.
Now I believe, and there's another one of the other Gospels talks about it being with myrrh,
this is some sort of anesthetic that was given pre-crucifixion, okay, that's what I believe it
is, they offer it to him, he had tasted it then he would not drink, so he knew what it was, so
I believe it was some form of anesthetic, but again I'm not dogmatic about that, but he refused
it, didn't he? Jesus Christ wasn't going no, you know, numb the pain, he was saying I'm here to
bear it all, yeah, I'm going to bear it all, he suffered, you know, he suffered affliction for us
all and he refused whatever this was that they were offering out, and just a quick point on this
as well, there's clearly a difference between tasting and drinking, isn't there? For those of
you that, you know, have ever looked at Hebrews 6 and seen that and try to explain that, clearly
a difference between tasting and drinking, right, but if you're wondering what I'm talking about
don't worry about that, right, okay, as we've got a lot to get through, right, verse 35 says this,
and they crucified him and parted his garments casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophet, they parted my garments among them and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
Now this is from Psalm 22, we're not going to go there yet, Psalm 22 18 is what that's from,
it's another prophecy fulfilled by Jesus Christ and as we've gone through the Gospel of Matthew
we're just seeing all these different prophecies being fulfilled, prophecy after prophecy after
prophecy, and once you go through and you study more of the Bible, look, you can't argue, can you,
that Jesus Christ is just fulfilling tons of prophecies which are clearly written long before
Jesus Christ came, yeah, okay, you can't make this stuff up, however, people choose not to believe,
don't they, but and you're never going to prove it to someone either, so in case you
think you're right, I need to get a list of these prophecies to show someone, they won't have it,
it doesn't matter, yeah, if someone doesn't want to hear the Gospel, doesn't want to get saved,
it doesn't matter if you give them whatever evidence, it wouldn't matter though one rose
from the dead, okay, they still will not believe, okay, but look at John chapter 19,
so we just read that they parted my garments among them and upon my vesture did they cast lots,
John's Gospel explains that they separated the rest of his clothing into four equal shares,
but the vesture was all one big item so they drew lots for it basically, okay, so some form of,
like drawing straws or something like that to see who ended up getting it, basically just bear
in mind, in case you're wondering what's all this about, what's up with these scummy soldiers,
you know, who wants someone's, you know, second-hand clothes who've just been beat
and whipped and everything else, you know, they didn't have cheap Chinese sweatshops
back in those, they probably did actually, but at least they weren't getting it imported from
those cheap Chinese sweatshops, right, okay, so clothing was obviously worth a bit of money,
yeah, clothing was obviously more natural, they didn't have the synthetic fibres so much,
you know, this stuff was expensive stuff, right, okay, it was worth money,
and in verse 23 in John 19 says this, then the soldiers when they crucified Jesus
took his garments and made four parts to every soldier apart and also his coat,
now the coat was without seam woven from the top throughout, they said therefore among themselves
let us not rend it but cast lots for it whose it shall be that the scripture might be fulfilled
which saith they parted my raiment among them and for my vesture they did cast lots these things
therefore the soldiers did, what was his vesture, was it a dress, did it say a dress,
was it a wizard's outfit, was it, it wasn't a wizard's outfit, was it, it was a big coat,
that's what Jesus Christ wore, a big coat, he wasn't walking around in a skirt or a dress,
my daughter's always trying to remind me I'm getting it wrong, oh nice guy, it's a dress daddy,
nice dress, it's a skirt daddy, but no he wasn't walking around in any of those and you know you
might be going like you're always going on about this stuff needs preaching more than ever nowadays
isn't it for a few reasons because number one everyone seems to think that Jesus Christ wore a
dress yeah and no his his his vesture was a coat yeah and secondly because it seems like more and
more men nowadays want to wear dresses okay and it's not okay and Jesus Christ didn't wear a dress
okay Jesus Christ wore a coat because he was a man yeah and it's you know and just on this as
well I don't like to go about on about kind of the other side of this too much doesn't he preach
sometimes look it's important nowadays more than ever for those lines to not be blurred yeah from
one from either side yeah okay and look we want to dress like men and women dressed like women
right and Jesus Christ dressed like a man and he had a looks like a nice big coat yeah anyway
let's keep going and sitting down they watched him there back in verse 36
sitting down they watched him there and verse 37 says has set up over his head
his accusation written this is Jesus the king of the Jews then were were there two thieves
crucified within one on the right hand and another on the left and of course Luke's gospel goes into
more detail but we're going to look at that in a little while verse 39 says and when and they that
passed by revolved him wagging their heads and saying thou that destroys the temple and buildest
it in three days save thyself if thou be the son of god come down from the cross now these are
passers-by aren't they because the chief priests scribes and elders are mentioned in the next verse
so this is they that passed by according to verse 39 wagging their heads saying this now remember
this was a lie it was a lie wasn't it the whole thou that destroys the temple and builder sit in
three days they're repeating the lie that came from the false witnesses so point being lies
spread quickly don't they so now you've got people just walking by repeat the same lie when the chief
priests and elders were wanted false witnesses were appealing for false witnesses they've come
forward come out with this nonsense their lies didn't even agree together according to Mark's
gospel i think and eventually they get him to apparently say some blasphemy according to them
but these now just passers-by are coming out with the same nonsense and and my point with that is
that look you've got to be careful for the lies out there and and especially obviously jesus
christ being jesus christ but men of god just get lied about all the time and many men of god out
there get slandered get lied about nowadays it's so easy online because people just people who
should never have a voice anywhere seem to have an online voice yeah people that don't even you know
you wouldn't even if you looked at them square in the eyes you would not take one thing seriously
that came out of their mouth and now behind keyboards making up all sorts of lies and slanders
about men of god and then what happens it starts getting repeated and repeated and repeated and
then it becomes this mantra and then automatically we just think well it's nice to work without fire
must be some truth to it must be some element of truth well didn't that pastor do that didn't
that preach do that didn't be supposed to do that and and look there's nothing new under the
sun just now we've got a different sort of terrain with it with the online world with all these kind
of social media and everything else and people just making up lies making up nonsense and
the truth is when you preach the word of god you know that's going to happen when you just serve
god you know it's going to happen because it's not just preachers so people in churches will just get
that okay and what they'll do is they'll take a little element of something take a little half
truth manipulate something and then start lying about something and this is what they did here
didn't they because he had actually said obviously he said destroy this temple talking about his body
and and and it will be raised up in three days they've changed it to now he's saying he's going
to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days and now you've got a lie that they're running with
people go oh no i heard him say yeah i heard him say something like that yeah and then it sounds
believable but again point being now you've just got random people just coming by and saying this
sort of stuff but what are they doing point being because i think in a in a in i think it's possibly
in mark's gospel they're described as railing these people are railing now you might go oh
yeah but they just believe what they felt well they want to be careful right you just start
coming out with this stuff and just say especially about lord jesus christ but whoever you just start
start repeating lies about people without evident without any evidence at all that's pretty wicked
isn't it yeah and these guys are railing they're reviling they're wagging their heads
mocking him scorning verse 41 then says likewise also so now we've got the chief priests mocking
him with the scribes and elders said he saved others himself he cannot save if he be the king
of israel let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him now they're mocking and
scorning yeah but don't miss it this is a temptation as well isn't it so jesus christ
is on the cross nailed to a cross about to die and it seems it's it's some sort of suffocation
from the fluid on his lungs that eventually kills him then he's about to descend into hell
and he's now being tempted you know like whoa he saved others this is like this is the devil
through his reprobates isn't it if they'll be the son of god you know if he be the king of israel
let him now come down for the cause and then we will believe him and it's a temptation isn't it
it's a temptation again we have to watch out because we'll often be getting you know people
are trying to encourage you to prove it to prove this prove this about yourself prove that as soon
as you're trying to prove yourself straight away you're out of god's will aren't you okay and here
that's what the temptation is they said he trusted in god let him deliver him now if he will have him
for he said i am the son of god and again this is this is from psalm 22 we're going to go there in
a minute but before we do let's just look at verse 44 which says this the thieves also which were
crucified with him casts the same in his teeth now notice how it's the thieves plural here
you know the thieves plural that were also claiming that he'd said something he hadn't which
i think that's what it means here casts the same in his teeth so they're basically claiming
something came out of his mouth that did it yeah but luke doesn't luke 23 show us that one of them
gets saved so maybe some of you might have read this before and look i think wait a second well
i thought one of them gets saved is this just an error is this where the gospels don't match up
well yeah one of them does get saved but it's after this point so look at luke chapter 23 luke
23 and we're going to look from verse 43 so luke 23 and verse 43 where the thief on the cross gets
saved luke 23 43 says this and jesus said unto him verily i say unto thee today shalt thou be
with me in paradise okay so we see that and then it says and it was about the sixth hour and there
was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour so he's just been saved right and then there
then and at that point it said it was about the sixth hour yeah so when the thieves cast the same
in his teeth and mark's gospel says and they that were crucified with him reviled him they sure did
but this was slightly earlier wasn't it then after the one thief then rebukes the other like we see
in luke's gospel and get saved right before the darkness comes because then in where we are back
in matthew's gospel in verse 45 we just see then it goes on to now from the sixth hour there was
darkness over all the land now it didn't say that that was at that point that they were reviling so
there's this gap that's filled in by luke's gospel where this thief then basically
you know calls on the name of the lord doesn't he okay what's the point well for one thief even
having railed on the lord jesus christ is able to get saved so even having railed on the lord
jesus christ so he's he's seemed to be mocking he's reviled him at the least they were saying
ero put in words his mouth saying he'd said things he hadn't he was still able to get saved
it's a good reminder isn't it it doesn't mean someone's reprobate because they were
you know mocking the lord jesus christ and many people do don't they it doesn't mean they're
unsavable because we can often just think oh you know they're too far gone anyway well this thief
on the cross gets saved but we're also going to look well second point for one of them it was
he didn't get saved did he and it was too late for him and he obviously died on that cross and
for me i don't see any evidence other than the fact that that other thief went to hell
and maybe you know maybe part of the whole lies and everything else he was repeating them maybe
for him it wasn't a good good good angle to go down i don't know but what about this darkness
luke 23 44 said it was about the sixth and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth
hour we saw in verse 45 matthew 27 now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
until the ninth hour this sounds like a pretty pretty vast darkness that's from midday to 3 p.m
by the way okay in case anyone's wondering and it's mentioned in three of the four gospels
and if there was darkness at midday around the world well you could say half the world it would
be abnormal because for the other half it probably was nighttime yeah but is there any other account
of it then because that's quite a big deal isn't it at this point in history there was a day when
three three hours in the middle of the day there seemed to be darkness across the whole earth when
there shouldn't have been yeah well funnily i had a little look at this i thought i wonder if anyone
anyone ever wrote about this three historians apparently did and again this doesn't make much
difference to us we know it's true because the word of god says it but it's interesting anyway
you got a guy called thallus fleagon and africanus and this is what i looked up on it thallus
apparently wrote a history of the eastern mediterranean world since the trojan war in
1852 all those original writings have been lost he's specifically quoted by julius africanus so
africanus quoted thallus he believed there was a natural explanation apparently so this guy was
quoted by africanus historical writings claiming that that he thought there was a natural
explanation some sort of like eclipse or something which was the reason for it now fleagon was a
greek historian who wrote an extensive chronology around ad 137 and he said this in the fourth year
202nd olympiad which is ad 33 by the way there was the greatest eclipse of the sun
and that it became night in the sixth hour of the day which is noon so that stars even
appeared in the heavens there was a great earthquake in bithynia and many things were
overturned in nycia now like i said it doesn't make much difference to us the bible says it's
true it's interesting isn't it nonetheless you know even covered the earthquake as well that
we see later in matthew's gospel as well so there were historians that picked up on this at the time
these weren't christians just rehashing the gospels or anything else some tried to put down
a natural explanation for it but interesting nonetheless back to matthew's gospel in verse 46
it says and about the ninth hour jesus cried with a loud voice saying eli eli lamma sabachthani
which that is to say my god my god why has our forsaken me so have you ever read this i thought
why did jesus shout this you know like didn't he know this was going to happen forsaken is is left
abandoned isn't it so he knew all of this was to happen didn't he i mean he's warned the disciples
he's told him what's going to happen he's told him you know the whole clear you know he said he even
said he's going to go to the heart of the earth you know we see many times jesus is forewarning
them of this to happen he said these things must come to pass well turn to psalm 22 now yes he was
forsaken okay he was forsaken so that we would never be forsaken okay yes but turn to psalm 22
because for me the main reason is that he's pointing them to psalm 22 that's why he's calling
this out he's pointing he's pointing people to psalm 22 psalm 22 is the only place in scripture
with this exact phrase aside from matthew and mark's gospels which give us an account of jesus
christ saying it and and something to in verse one it's it's to the chief musician upon ijalef
shaha a psalm of david who by the way is often picturing christ king david and it starts in
verse one my god my god why has thou forsaken me why art thou so far from helping me and from the
words of my roaring so the psalm starts off with this exact phrase and then goes on to pro if you
notice i've mentioned psalm 22 a couple times already it goes on to prophesy of so much of
what we've seen happen here so it starts with this phrase in he's for me he's pointing us to psalm 22
she just has all this prophecy of what's going to happen and we're going to read it we're going to
read some psalm 22 uh in its entirety so look at verse two oh my god i cry in the daytime but they
are here it's not in the night season and they're not silent and obviously when he's when david's
writing this okay it's not that everything's just a prophecy it's something he's living as well
and then we take the bits which are prophecy and that's how a lot of prophecy works if someone
lives it but then it's obviously also picturing something else to come but thou art holy this is
verse three oh thou that inhabits the praise of israel our fathers trust in thee they trusted
and thou didst deliver them they cried unto thee and were delivered they trusted in thee
and were not confounded but i am a worm and no man a reproach of men and despised of the people
and don't forget in verse 39 in matthew 27 and they that passed by reviled him wagging their
heads yeah he was a reproach of men as well wasn't he despised of the people verse seven then says
all they that see me laugh me to scorn they shoot out the lip they shake the head remember they were
wagging their heads saying he trusted on the lord that he would deliver him let him deliver him
seeing he delight in him and we see in verse 43 that it said in matthew's gospel he trusted in
god let him deliver him now if he will have him for he said i am the son of god and you know
obviously delighting in him being the son of god i would marry up with that then verse 9 it says
but thou art he that took me out of the womb that is make me hope when i was upon my mother's breast
i was cast upon me from the womb thou art my god for my mother's belly be not far for me for
trouble is near for there is none to help many bulls have compass me strong bulls of beige should
have beset me round they gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion
i am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint my heart is like wax it is melted
in the midst of my bowels my strength is dried up like a potsherd and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws
and now has brought me into the dust of death look at verse 16 for dogs have compassed me
the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me they pierced my hands and my feet clearly prophetic
again right i'm i may tell all my bones they look and stare upon me they part my garments among them
and cast lots upon my vesture and we've just looked at that as well clearly prophetic again
but be not thou far from me our lord i'm my strength hazy to help me deliver my soul from
the sword my darling from the power of the dog save me from the lion's mouth for thou has heard
me from the horns of the unicorns i will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the
congregation will i praise thee ye that fear the lord praise him all ye the seed of jacob glorify
him and fear him all ye the seed of israel for he has not despised nor aboard the affliction of the
afflicted neither have he hid his face from him but when he cried unto him he heard my praise
shall be of thee in a great congregation i will pay my vows before them that fear him
the meat shall eat and be satisfied they shall praise the lord that seek him your heart shall
live forever all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the lord and all the
kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee that's pretty prophetic as well isn't it
of what what was to come then for the kingdom is the lord's and he is the governor among the nations
all they all they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship all they that go down to the dust
shall bow before him and none can keep alive his own soul a seed shall serve him it shall be
accounted to the lord for generation they shall come and shall declare his righteousness unto
a people that shall be born that he have done this and that was what was to come next wasn't
it and for me that's why we're being pointed to psalm 22 the preacher of the gospel to the
whole world it was to go on and do that as well so we're seeing all this prophecy and prophecy
and then the prophecy that was to come as well and it was for the gospel to go out to the world
for me he's quoting david there in his kind of final moments he's quoting him yes he's calling
out yes he's in pain he's in anguish but he's quoting david he's fulfilling prophecy and he's
also pointing us to the other prophecies of psalm 22 go back to matthew 27
which you couldn't look you couldn't read could you that prophetic sermon and deny why he was
forsaken could you because it then says that then his righteousness shall be declared unto a people
that shall be born that he had done this and it's basically the gospel going out to all the world
yeah it's a gospel it's that it's it's that that that saves people then verse 47 says some of them
that stood there when they heard that said this man calleth for elias which is the greek for
elijah he didn't know did he okay he didn't call for for elijah and straight away 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 is rent in twain from the top to
the bottom and the earth did quake and the rocks rent so the veil was to divide the holy place and
the most holy wasn't it and it's by christ that we know that we now have access to that anyway so
that's ripped that's the end of that okay we we have access to the most holy by jesus christ and
of course you know they old there's no change that in terms of fraternity old testament saints were
always saved by the coming christ okay in case someone was wondering about that verse 52 then
says 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 this seems
to be some sort of miraculous event that happened with the death of christ okay but that's what it
is it's a miraculous event okay this isn't this isn't like a prophecy being fulfilled this isn't
something to do with the you know with obviously the resurrection or something
look many people did get raised from the dead this is like some en masse kind of people coming out
and in a way it's just still just confirming confirming who jesus christ was okay and and you
could argue it's a foreshadowing of the real resurrection to come as well but it's not the
resurrection okay this is something some miraculous event that happened with the death of jesus christ
which look all of this the curtains rent in twain of ales yeah you've got the the earthquake you've
got everything going dark for three hours you've got people rising from the dead old testament
saints and it's not that they go and floating around you know with a white kind of sheet over
them they're just they the people have seen people that were already dead they're like being raised
like lazarus was raised from the dead i don't know exactly how that worked i don't know if you know
if they were then sleeping like lazarus was i don't know yeah i don't know how that works but
what i do know is that this was some miraculous stuff that went on when jesus christ died because
this was god dying yeah god in the flesh the son of god died on the cross he went to hell all this
amazing stuff is happening and you would you you would think that people there would be like well
i'm getting saved yeah i'm i'm believing that what all that stuff he was saying about who's ever
believeth in me and all that stuff it's time to get saved you would think wouldn't you but sadly
not you know sadly not even with all that going on people just refuse some people are so hard
and not i don't and not just the reprobates because after this happened i mean at the day
of pentecost you get thousands of people get saved and we see salvation going on in jerusalem
to the jews that were there and he's and peter's preached them isn't he and and saying to them you
did this you did that you know him who you slew you know and everything else and it was only and
some of them sure got saved but many didn't many didn't and it's just amazing isn't it really and
but like i was saying earlier you proving this proving that that should have proved it shouldn't
it i mean the centurion we see he get he for him he's like truly this is the son of god yeah
yeah it doesn't like other people just will reject people who reject will just reject
and sometimes i think it's hard because we just want to convince me we want to force them if only
i can just drag them to church if only i could like get them in a headlock and just get them
there they're gonna hear it they're gonna get saved well i can make them hear the gospel and
that's why i constantly is saying don't force people to hear the gospel it's a waste of your
time and all you do is just get a full salvation that's not not really safe don't force them give
them the option look some people sometimes sometimes you might be preaching the gospel
and they need a little bit of encouragement or something you know but look if someone doesn't
want to hear it they don't want to hear it someone doesn't want to come to church they don't want to
come to church someone doesn't want to get saved they don't want to get saved yeah and sometimes
we need to remember that because even with all of this going on they still didn't verse 54 says
now when the centurion 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 and many women were there
beholding afar off which followed jesus from galilee minister ministering unto him among
which was mary magdalene and mary the mother of james and joseph and now by the way this is this
is his mother the mother of james and joseph this is mary the mother of jesus and and the mother of
zebedee's children okay which is the third person there so so many women were there beholding afar
which followed jesus from galilee ministering unto him so you got these women here they're still
there aren't they now yes they're far off they're watching from afar off and but where are the
disciples where are the 11 where are the 70 where's everyone else they've all legged it
and the women are there though but which women are there is it just some random women no it
was the women that were ministering unto him it was it's the women that were serving christ the
women that were serving god the women that were giving their lives to christ and no not for
salvation because people love that one i gave my life to christ this long no those that were saved
and then giving their life to christ as well and being disciples and were doing the right thing
those women were still there were still there while everyone else had legged it and fled
i mean they're a great example aren't they oh that was his mum well what about mary magdalene
what about the mother of zebedee's children where's zebedee's children where the sons of thunder
thundered off somewhere and but but their mum's there good old mum's there and the rest of them
legged it and it but it's a great example isn't it but what is it for me that that gave these women
this strength that all these guys these fishermen these tax collectors all these guys what was it
that gave them that strength it was ministering to the lord it was serving god it was just humbly
serving the lord and they're still there they're still there while the rest of them have gone
you know i mean so i'll see there but there are some there were some there were some other people
because verse 57 says when the even was come there came a rich man of aramathia named joseph
who also himself was jesus disciple he went to pilot and begged the body of jesus
then pilot commanded the body to be delivered and when joseph had taken the body he wrapped it in
a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out in the rock and he
rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher and departed so we got this rich guy oh it must
be wicked he's rich isn't he no no he's not he's a disciple of the lord jesus christ because look
rich people can get saved yeah because i think sometimes though obviously when when we go to
receptive places when we go soul winning when we're going just like let's find someone receptive we
don't usually go to the richest areas around because those people are less likely are less
receptive we're going to get less salvations however they still can get saved so we don't
want to just cast them off either and we look there's still there's still a ministry there to
go and preach the gospel to everyone isn't there you didn't say go you into all the world and
preach the gospel to every poor creature go you into only the poor areas of the world and preach
the gospel to every creature there no we should preach gospel to every creature right but here's
the thing is that this rich guy was he just like well i'm rich and living it up living it up come
to church once a week and the rest of the time i'm just gonna enjoy what god's given me because
you know i just must be more blessed than everyone else no he's using his wealth and resources for
the cause of christ now that's not to say that you know if anyone in the future anyone here
yeah they do all right they got money everything they've got to get every bit of cash to the church
i'm not saying that what i am saying is if we're blessed in life to have money we should use that
extra time we have we should use those resources to serve the lord shouldn't we
and and however we do that it's it's you know it's not like right you you're you know that
that christian i've you know god's blessed that one with you know a million pounds so they can
just put their feet up you know they're going to drive a great car and do this and do that no
because is that really what what god's blessed you for no for me when people are blessed with money
it's because he hopefully with those people with those christians god knows that no they're going
to be able to do great things for god they're going to use that to do great things to serve the lord
to be able to go on that missions trip to be able to do the great to be able to have that extra time
to be able to cut down the hours at work because they got the money so they can turn up to every
church so they can turn up to the soul winning they can turn up to the marathons they can do
great things they can serve the lord they can they've got more time to read their bible
more time to study more time to be an example to others more time to help in the church more time
to do all these things but so often we chase money just to have more money we chase the cash
not to serve the lord and then let's be honest those people where that's in their mind probably
are never going to get blessed with that much money because is is it really going to help
or is it just going to destroy them this guy a great guy he was right i'm gonna he can use my
own i can imagine that that making your own you know shooing out your own sepulcher in a rock's
probably quite a tough job isn't it i bet that cost a bit of money for them wasn't it to get
the people to do that didn't sound like he hewed it out in in a bit of fresh soil he went for the
rock he hewed out the sepulcher in the rock and i'm sure there's a sermon down the rock as well
but uh we don't have time for that now but and it look he's put some time and effort and money into
that and he's using it for the lord jesus christ isn't he and okay let's keep going verse 61 says
and there was mary magdalene and the other mary sitting over against sepulcher now the next day
that followed the day of the preparation the chief priests and pharisees came together
unto pilot saying sir we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive after
three days i will rise again now although this was mainly talked to the disciples yeah in mark
832 it says and he spake that saying openly and peter took him and began to rebuke him so this was
talking about when he's telling them about dying and rising again so these guys they're going sir
we remember that deceiver said well he's yet alive after three days they make it clear don't
they after three days i will arise again but these are the same people that have been mocking him
when he for when he said in john 219 destroyed his temple in three days i'll raise it up
yet they remember that he was talking about three days like they couldn't put two and two together
there really sounds they know it sounds like they knew exactly what he was saying didn't they
but they chose it because they're wicked and people do that they know exactly they'll catch
like they'll they'll get some creature they'll get some pastor says something out of context
you know says something that maybe you know because when you're talking for a long time
you're going to say say funny things sometimes i'm not talking about someone who's trying to
just preach a false gospel they'll say and they'll they'll know full well but they'll be like that
pastor didn't make this as clear as he should have done in it when he was preaching that sermon once
even though he's made it clear hundreds of times you know and it's like but they know full well
they know full well they're just trying to take something he said out of context and then attack
him and and this is what they're doing for the lord jesus christ here they knew full well we
remember that he said they weren't even there i don't think but they've heard it they know they
know that he's been preaching that he's going to rise again from the dead three days later
and they try and use it use it to to obviously claim that he's then saying he's going to destroy
the temple wicked wicked people and again like i said last week i said time and time again without
the reprobate doctrine without understanding how bad these people really are you can't get your
head around this how you could be that wicked that evil to just lie and slander the the the son of god
to have him killed and then even afterwards just try any which way to try and stop you know any of
that prophecy being fulfilled it just absolute scum they're they're they're children of the
devil their son's abedial they're the most wicked people out there verse 64 then says command
therefore that the sepp could be made sure until the third day lest his disciples come by night
and steal him away and say unto the people he has risen from the dead so the last error shall be
worse than the first pilot said unto them you have a watch go your way make it as sure as you can
so he said basically use your own men for it yeah he's like look you have your own watches in
your own people you go and do it yeah i'm not dealing with this so they went and made the
sepulchre sure sealing the stone and setting a watch now is a is a funny thing with this is that
look jesus christ he's been buried yeah they're saying we know he's prophesied all of this and
you're like so why are you seeing the stone never forget for me it's almost as if they want to
prevent they want to prevent the resurrection because is it really that they think his
disciples are going to come and do all that no they're not they they think they can somehow
prevent the resurrection but they can't they can't because it's the power of god and there
was nothing they could do so they could set their watch and find a way to to seal the stone or
whatever it is and but you can't prevent god and in the same way they're all these enemies of god
will constantly try to prevent us they'll try and prevent churches they'll try and prevent the word
of god getting out they'll try and prevent soul winning they'll trial these ways and sometimes
you think oh they're gonna stop this and they're gonna try and do that and we can kind of get a
bit shaken up thinking oh they're gonna clamp down here but they can't because it's the power of god
because we're told to do it because god's gonna be with us because he's gonna give us what we need
to go out and do the things of god they couldn't prevent the resurrection they can't prevent us
preaching the gospel they can't prevent us preaching the whole council they can't prevent
us preaching the bible they'll try and they'll try ways they'll try and shake us up and they'll
try and test this and they'll try and make people in this church worry about should i really be a
part of this church because the heat's starting to come or you know should i really go out soul
winning because you know i don't know if we should look we saw that in covid they tried to stop
but wow we got a lot of salvations during lockdowns didn't we oh some receptive soul winning and they
tried to prevent us the people out there tried and they tried to come out with all their excuses
and reasons why we shouldn't be out preaching the gospel and we were getting people saved left right
and center in fact i think we got the most salvations in that first year didn't we that
we've ever had and i know we had a few you know you know clown video game number soul winners here
however there was a lot of genuine salvation as well yeah a lot of people here can account for
that first year this church during the covid lockdowns it's getting people saved left right
and center and and they'll try they'll try and stop but you cannot stop the power of god can you
and praise god for that and that is uh that was matthew chapter 27 we've got one more chapter to
go um got through that nicely tonight in in good time as well um which is good because we've got
a baptism afterwards as well so um in fact too so on that we're going to go to the lord in prayer
father thank you for um well everything thank you for salvation thank you for uh that that
great chapter of the bible the many truths we got out of that thank you for um just you know the
many things your son jesus christ went through uh for us thank you for um thank you for for your
word thank you for that just you know so many truths so much that once we study it and compare
it we can learn from it help us to always have a heart to do that lord not to just want to
gloss over things help us to always just try and study the word try and really understand you know
peel back those layers lord help us to to to also um also listen to your commands in in in your
bible such as going out and preaching the gospel help us to all want to do that help us to all want
to grow with that to get better at that help us to to uh to also you know make sure that we just get
in church as much as possible um starting this sunday lord help us to all return safely and
soundly on sunday and also there if we can get out on saturday for the soul winning marathon as well
get many salvations there in the juice name of this amen