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All right. I'm going to start it. I'm going to start it now. Hold on. Hang on. Right there. Oh, this is so easy. Hold on. On your left, please. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I remember Dylan saying, like, that's good. Yeah. I think, I don't know what we're going to do this year. The version of the book, the lyrics are different than all the versions that we've heard. But I think he's going to, like, bypass it. I would like to play it, because it's not that big of a problem. But yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I would imagine, like, the notes and everything would be the same. But it doesn't work. I'd be down, but I don't know. I don't think the whole time we had already done it. Oh, yeah. Yeah, when you said we did it, we offered some, like, company. Yeah. Like, hmm. That sounds good. All right. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. Glad you could all make it this Sunday morning. Let's go ahead and take out our hymnals. We'll get into our singing service right now. 423, Joy to the World. Start off with some Christmas songs today. It is December. I'm sure you miss these all year long. 423, Joy to the World. Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven, heaven, and nature sing. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns. Let men their songs employ. While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy. No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow. Far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as, far as the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love and wonders of His love and wonders, wonders of His love. Amen. Great singing. Let's fire out this word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we just thank you that we can come to your house today to be with the brethren, to hear the preaching of your word. I just pray you'd help us all to grow and to be edified by the message preached today. You have built Brother Ben with your Holy Spirit and helped him to teach your people. We can walk out of here as better Christians. We love you, Lord, and we ask these things in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Next is going to be Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, song number 429. 429. We'll sing it all together on the first. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Glory to the newborn King Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled Joyful all ye nations rise Join the triumph of the skies With angelic hosts proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Glory to the newborn King Christ by highest heaven adored Christ the everlasting Lord Late in time behold Him come Offspring of the Virgin's morn Veiled in flesh the Godhead see Hail the incarnate deity Pleased as men with men to dwell Jesus our Emmanuel Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Glory to the newborn King Hail the heaven born Prince of Peace Hail the Son of Righteousness Light and life to all He brings Risen with healing in His wings While He lays His glory by Born that man no more may die Born to raise the sons of earth Born to give them second birth Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Glory to the newborn King Come desire of nations come Fix in us thy humble home Rise of home its conquering sea Bruise in us a serpent's head Atoms like this now it fades Stamp thy image in its place Take an atom from above Reinstate us in thy love Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Glory to the newborn King Amen, great singing. At this time we'll go through our announcements. If you need a bulletin, raise up your hand and one of the ushers will try and bring one to you. If you don't know Pastor Shelley, he's down at Pure Words Baptist Church preaching for them this Sunday. So you got Brother Ben, he's in the back, he's preaching the morning service for us today. So we're excited to have him. Pastor Shelley, he's down in Houston at Pure Words. They just did caroling and obviously soul winning on Saturday. So they're just down there for the weekend. So we'll see him back here shortly. And so we'll get into the bulletin. You'll see here on the first page, we have our Bible memory passage. We're in John chapter number one. We just started this a couple of weeks ago. This is a perfect time to get on board. And what we do is if you can quote the entire chapter, you'll get a special prize. And the bigger the chapter, the bigger the prize. So I mean, it's 52 verses. So it's literally next year. It's going to take a whole year to do it. But again, the bigger the chapter, the bigger the prize. And you'll have an entire chapter of the Bible memorized. And so we just do one verse a week. Anybody's capable of doing that. And hopefully by the end of the year, next year, you'll be able to get that done. And we also have a special thing for children if you're under 18 years of old. If you can just quote that one verse for the week, then you'll get an ice cream on Wednesday. But that's the fine print. You've got to come on Wednesday to redeem your prize. So it encourages everybody to come on Wednesday and to memorize the Bible. So everybody has the opportunity to do that if you'd like to do that. And then you'll see on the inside page of our bulletin, we have our service time, Sunday morning at 10.30. We have a Spanish service here at 4.30. And then this evening service is at 5.30. Wednesday evenings, that's when we have our Bible study. Pastor Shelley, he's going through the book of Genesis right now. We have our church-wide soul-winning times listed there below. We have soul-winning today at 2. So if you'd like to go out and reach the loss with the gospel, we just pair people up here. We meet together at 2, send you out, you go out for a couple hours. You come back and you can rejoice about all the people who got saved. And then there's other times listed there below. We have our church stats for salvations and baptisms for the year. And just that note about soul-winning maps, if we give you a map, just please make sure you turn it back into this bin over here unless they moved it. But just please make sure you turn those in. That way we can just keep track of everything that we're doing. And then you'll see on the other page, we just ask that everybody be in prayer for our expecting ladies. And that list just keeps on growing and growing. So we're excited for that. We just ask everybody to pray for them and their babies. We also have our church prayer list. So we just put that on here. That way everybody in here, just in your own spare time, you can keep our members and other people in your prayers. If you'd like to be added to this or if you know somebody who needs prayer, you can just email the church. The address there is listed below. And if you need that continually every week, then every week just keep sending that in. That way we know to keep praying for you. And then the last note there on the bottom, we have secret gifts for our expecting ladies. So if you saw the Christmas tree, I think they already put up the notes, right, Brother West, are the notes on the Christmas tree already there? Yeah. So all the ladies who are expecting, we have a heart-shaped ornament on the Christmas tree there. And so if you would like to, you don't have to, but just for them, we would like, if you want to participate, you just grab one of those hearts and you get a gift for that specific person. And it's for the mom, not the baby. So this is a treat for the moms. And then if you do that, just bring the gift back, you can give it to an usher or Pastor Shelley, or you can just leave it there and just put their name on it. That way we know who to give it to. It's a secret gift. We don't have to put your name on it. And then I think that's it for that one. And then on the back of the bulletin, we have our ladies' Christmas party. All ladies are invited on Friday, December 17th from 6 to 9 p.m. And dinner is going to be catered for you all. And if they're doing a gift exchange as well, so if you want to participate, just bring a wrapped present. And it's nurselings only. So it's not nurselings only preferred, it's nurselings only. That way, you know, the ladies can just have a fun time. So we need all the men, we need you to step up and watch all the kids. I know it's hard, but this one day of the year, you can manage them for a couple hours, okay? And then your wife will be very happy if you get some relief. So nurselings only for that. And then there's also a baby shower the next day. And so all ladies are invited to join us Saturday, December 18th. And that's going to be from 1230 to 2.30 p.m. And that's going to be for Megan Wood and her baby girl. And she's also registered at Bye Bye Baby if you'd like to get her a gift. And if you're able to, we just ask you to bring a disc to share. And this one's nurselings only preferred. So if your husband doesn't want to watch the kids, you know, okay, you can bring them. They'll be gladly accepted. But preferably, nurselings only. That way, again, you can get some more time to fellowship and hang out rather than chasing your kids everywhere. And then we have upcoming events listed there below. We have Brownsville, Matamora, soul winning. Marathon coming up, just a reminder for that. We have Christmas caroling at 5.30. That's December 14th. And it's actually really fun. If you're able to make it, I encourage you to go. We meet here. We go out. But unlike soul winning, everybody loves the caroling. I went last year, and every house we went to, they were just excited. And it's fun just singing. That's one way to get filled with the spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And it's a good time of fellowship. December 18th, like I said, is the baby's shower. And the 17th is the Christmas party. We have church yearbook pictures. We have a makeup day. It's December 19th. And it's completely free. So you can sign up right here, and we'll take a picture of you and your family. And I don't know if you heard, Pastor Shelley gave the warning. If you don't sign up, he's just going to take a random picture from you. So you might end up with a bad picture in the yearbook. So you better sign up. That way, you get a good picture of you and your family. And it's free, so why would you not? December 22nd, we have our candlelight service and a cookie bake-off. That's going to be a service you want to attend. A cookie bake-off? You don't want to miss that. And then we have December 31st. That's our New Year's Eve party at 7. And so everybody's invited to come for that as well. And you'll see the notes there listed. If you want to donate, if it's a check, or if you want to do it online, just do it through Pure Words Baptist, not steadfast because we're still having issues with their banking. And then please do not put anything in the hallway. They're mainly referring to trash. Sometimes people take the trash and put it in the hallway. We just don't want it to sit there, and nobody actually takes it to the dump. So if you are nice enough to take out the trash, just please take it all the way to the dump rather than just setting it in the hallway, because that's also shared. So I believe that's all I have for announcements. So with that, we'll go to our third song. It's going to be 425, No Room in the Inn, song number 425. Sing it all together. No beautiful chamber, no soft cradle bend, No place but a manger, nowhere for his head, No praises of gladness, no thought of their sin, No glory but sadness, no room in the inn, No room, no room for Jesus, oh give him welcome free, Lest you should hear at heaven's gate, There is no room for thee, no sweet consecration, No seeking his form, no humiliation, No place in the heart, no thought of the Savior, No sorrow for sin, no prayer for favor, No room in the inn, no room, no room for Jesus, Oh give him welcome free, Lest you should hear at heaven's gate, There is no room for thee, no want to receive him, No welcome while here, no balm to relieve him, No staff but a spear, no seeking his treasure, No weeping for sin, no doing his pleasure, No room in the inn, no room, no room for Jesus, Oh give him welcome free, Lest you should hear at heaven's gate, There is no room for thee. Amen, good singing. At this time we're going to pass the offering place, and if you would turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew 27. Matthew chapter 27. The Bible reads, When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned and then I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? See thou to that. He cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, It is not lawful for it to put them into the treasury because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in. Wherefore, that field was called the field of blood unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's field as the Lord appointed me. And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word, insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you, Barabbas or Jesus, which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas, Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers, 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. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear his cross, and when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of the skull, they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall, and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 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. And sitting down, they watched him there and set up over him, over his head, his accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. And were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left? And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also, the chief priests mocking him with their 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. He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him. For he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also which were crucified with him, passed the same in his teeth. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land under the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there when they heard that said, This man calleth for Elias. And strayed 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 had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent and twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now in the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly, this was the Son of God. And many women were there, beholding a far-off which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him, among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children. When the evening was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple. He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus, and Pilate 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 to the sepulcher, and departed. And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulcher. Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead, so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch, go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for our church. Thank you for Brother Ben, please fill him with your spirit, allow him to preach boldly, and help us pay attention that we may apply the message to our lives in the coming days and years. In Jesus' name, Amen. Man, I want to begin by thanking Pastor Shelley for the opportunity to fill in this morning. I appreciate it. Starting in Matthew chapter 27, and this is one of the more powerful chapters in the Word of God, you have obviously the crucifixion, the death of Jesus Christ, and it's astounding to me that the Jews chose an insurrectionist and a murderer to free over Jesus. It shows you just how much they hated him. Let's focus in verse 50, where the Bible read, Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent and twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared unto many. So we have a series of miraculous events that occur here in Matthew chapter 27 at the death of Christ. We have the veil of the temple being rent, we have the graves being opened, and many bodies rising up that were sleeping. These saved individuals rose up out of the grave and went and preached in Jerusalem. I'm not going to focus on that necessarily, but I did want to point out that these people who did rise from the dead went on to die again. And so Jesus was the first who rose again never to die again, which enables us to one day do the exact same thing at the rapture. But the portion of this that I wanted to really hone in on is when it says in verse 51, the veil of the temple was rent and twain from the top to the bottom. Again, a miraculous event. And what we're seeing here, the climax of scripture, I believe. This is at least one of them. You could argue there are multiple, but this, I think, if you want to look at it from a broad perspective, as the climax of scripture, what Brother Nick just read for you is the single most important event in history, the death of Jesus Christ. Of course, he was buried and he rose again the third day. But what I wanted to focus on is the veil of that temple. It was rent and twain, meaning that it was cut in half miraculously. And the title of my sermon this morning is The Veil of the Temple Was Rent. The veil of the temple was rent. And here's what the purpose of the sermon is. We're going to look at what this really means because there's nothing in your Bible that's incidental, coincidental, or accidental. Everything has a deeper meaning and I believe there's a deeper meaning associated with the veil of the temple being rent. And we're going to discover what that is over the course of the next hour. If you would go to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. Let's understand the deeper meaning behind the veil of the temple being rent when Jesus died. When he gave up the ghost, when he died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, that veil which was in Zerubbabel's temple, that second temple, which was sort of remodeled by Herod, it was cut in half. It was rent and twain. Now, while you flip to Hebrews 9, I'll quote for you from Luke 23 which says, and it was about the sixth hour and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour and the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. So again, when Jesus died on the cross, that veil which was in the temple was ripped in half and this is a significant event. It's a significant event because it symbolizes certain theological points that we're going to go over here this morning. Now, I had you turn to Hebrews chapter 9. Let's look at a cluster of verses here in this chapter starting at verse 1 where the Bible read in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 1, Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. So this is describing an ordinance of the old covenant in which there was an earthly tabernacle. And you can read about this obviously in your Old Testament, that mobile earthly tabernacle constructed by Moses and he was following perfectly the instructions that came to him from God. Verse 2 says, for there was a tabernacle made, the first wherein was the candlestick and the table and the showbread which is called the sanctuary. So this tabernacle had two different compartments to it and we're talking about that first compartment of this earthly tabernacle which pictured heavenly things by the way and it describes some of the items that were in that first compartment. Look at verse number 3, and after the second veil, so now we're going into that second compartment if you will, through the veil, the veil that we just read about in Matthew 27 and I quoted for you from Luke chapter 23, that veil which was rent, which was in the temple obviously, this one is describing the one that was in the tabernacle, but it's the same concept. It says, and after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all. So again that second compartment described as the holiest of all, it says in verse 4 which had, so these are the items that were inside it, the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna and Aaron's rod that budded and the tables of the covenant and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat of which we cannot now speak particularly, meaning that we can't really go into great detail on this, but see beyond the veil there was an area designated as what? The holy of holies or the holiest of all, it was that inward sanctuary of the tabernacle and the temple of God which was a more permanent structure rather than the mobile tabernacle, it followed the same formula, it also had that inward sanctuary, it also had the holiest of all and what does that word holy mean? It means to essentially be set apart or sanctified, pure, separated, etc. That's why people talk about holiness as something that we should strive for. Now of course God is perfectly holy, we're not, but we're striving for holiness, we're striving to be set apart and sanctified, etc. And regarding the priests, the closer that they got into that inward, that innermost sanctuary, the holiest of all, essentially the holier that they had to be, right? And so that's why they wore linen garments to symbolize that holiness and that sanctification which was necessary for them to enter the innermost sanctuary which they did once a year, I'll have more on that a little bit later, but again the structure of the tabernacle and the temple was such that there were two compartments, that sort of outer sanctuary and then the inner sanctuary. The temple of course had a courtyard as well, but the building, the main building had that outward sort of sanctuary and then you move into the innermost tabernacle and it's described as the holiest of all. Now that first sanctuary, it typifies the outward components of your Christian life. For example, there are some items that are found in this compartment of the tabernacle that could picture those things, those outward components of your Christian life. For example, the showbread table, right? I mean that pictures fellowship with the brethren and of course when we gather to fellowship one with another, oftentimes what's the centerpiece that our fellowship revolves around? It's the word of God. That's why you had that showbread placed on the table picturing fellowship that revolves around the word of God. You come to any one of our fellowship events and you'll see that in action, you'll find a bunch of people talking about the Bible. Now I'm not claiming that's all we talk about, but it's certainly a major component of fellowship at a church like this, is people gathering around, talking about the word of God, flipping to different verses, seeing how they connect, etc. This first section of the tabernacle also contained the candlestick which could be a shadow of the church, right? And of course you see that reminiscent in the book of Revelation. Now that innermost sanctuary, the holiest of all, the holy of holies as it's described in scripture, is analogous to the inward parts of your Christian life. And I'm talking about what? I'm talking about prayer, right? Obviously inside the holiest of all it contained the golden censer, the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat placed on top of it, and the cherubims that are shadowing the mercy seat as the Bible told us in Hebrews chapter 9. And again, that would picture some of the inward components of the Christian life. The golden censer, for example, which is sort of this ball-shaped object, is symbolic of prayer. Incense that's basically being lit for God is a picture of prayer. That golden censer would point to prayer. The ark of the covenant, I believe, is sort of analogous to your heart. And it contained law tablets, the golden pot that had manna, Aaron's rod that budded, all things that could point to inward components of your Christian life. And again, emblematic of your heart specifically, what ought to be in our heart? Well, how about, you know, the word of God, which is what the manna would picture. How about God's law? That should be on our heart, and it is. And of course, you know, the fruit of the Spirit dwelling within us as well. Now the innermost sanctuary, another important point that you have to understand about the holiest of all, again, that innermost sanctuary inside of the temple of God is that it pictured God's dwelling place. It was symbolic of God's dwelling place, and it's supposed to be a figure of heavenly things, the Bible says. It's a figure of heavenly things. It's a figure of heaven itself. It's a figure of God's dwelling place in heaven, and so the presence of God can be found in the innermost sanctuary of the tabernacle. Now regarding that second temple, it didn't have an ark of the covenant, but that innermost sanctuary still pictured God's dwelling place. It still pictured the presence of God, and that's an important point that you have to understand, an underlying point that I'll be reiterating throughout the sermon. Now let's look at Exodus chapter 26 so we can look specifically at the veil, right? Because that's what the sermon is about, the rending of the veil, the veil being cut in half by God, this miraculous event that it was torn. It was torn in half by the Lord, and this veil wasn't made out of cheap material. It wasn't like a piece of paper, so it would have taken supernatural strength to be torn, and that's exactly what happened when Jesus died on the cross, a significant event that has a deeper meaning, which I'll go into momentarily. Exodus chapter 26 is where I had you turn. Let's learn a little bit more about the veil in Exodus chapter 26. We're going to do a little bit of a Bible study this morning. You know, I'll get up and yell and scream some other time, all right? So just bear with me here. Exodus chapter 26, look what it says in verse 31. The Bible read there, that thou mayest bring in thither within the veil the ark of the testimony, and the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. So the veil was hung under tatches, and if you're wondering what that means, well you notice that word tatches is a subset of the word attach. So that's what this veil was hung under, and it acted, what was the veil you might be wondering? Well this veil, it acted as a dividing line or a partition between the holiest of all and the regular holy place, if you will, between that first compartment of the sanctuary of the temple and the second part of the temple. See, the ark of the covenant was placed inside that innermost, that second part, the innermost portion of the sanctuary, and what divided that innermost portion of the sanctuary from the rest of the temple was the veil, and it was that veil that was rent when Jesus Christ died on the cross. Once again, this was a dividing line, it was a partition, it was a separation between the holiest of all and the holy place, between the holy of holies and the holy place, between the innermost portion of the tabernacle and the outward portion of the tabernacle, if you will. Again, that holy of holies that I've been describing for you was only accessible once per year by the high priest on the day of atonement. I don't want to get ahead of myself because I'll be covering that a little bit later on. But this partition at the entrance of the holy of holies, on the entrance of the innermost portion of the tabernacle, the Bible says was rent in twain at the death of Christ. Now look over, if you would, at 2 Chronicles chapter 3. 2 Chronicles chapter 3. The rending of the veil, which is the title of my sermon, the veil of the temple was rent. The rending of the veil pictures five spiritual and theological points that I want to go over this morning. Five spiritual and theological points that I believe are all connected. If you're paying attention, you'll notice how these are all connected together. And the first one that I want to go over this morning, the first spiritual picture associated with the rending of the veil is this. Christ's beaten, bloodied, and broken body. Christ's beaten, bloodied, and broken body. I would encourage you, if you have the ability to do so, to take some notes throughout the hour, if you would. And, you know, maybe this will help you retain some information. But if not, that's okay as well. Just try and pay close attention so that we can walk out of here having learned something new about this subject. But as you turn to 2 Chronicles 3, I'm going to quote for you from Hebrews chapter 10 where the Bible read, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he had consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. So we see that the veil is delineated as the flesh of Jesus Christ, who is God obviously, in Hebrews chapter 10. So the flesh of Jesus symbolized by the veil according to Hebrews chapter 10, it categorizes the veil as being representative of Christ's flesh. Now in 2 Chronicles chapter 3, let's look at what this veil was made of. Again, this was the veil that was rent and twain. And what am I talking about? I'm talking about how this symbolizes Christ's beaten, bloodied, and broken body. And I believe we see here the beaten and bloodied aspect of those things. It says in 2 Chronicles chapter 3 verse 14, it says in 2 Chronicles chapter 3 verse 14, And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson and fine linen and wrought cherubim's thereon. So this is what it was made of, kind of the design of it. And what were the colors if you paid attention? It said blue, it said purple, crimson. You know, it's also called scarlet in scripture. That's a reddish color. That's a reddish color. Now think about this. When an individual is beaten over and over and over again, what do you expect to see form on their skin? Well, you would expect to see these three colors. You would expect to see blue. You would expect to see purple. You would expect to see crimson form on their skin as well. And that's exactly what happened to Jesus. You don't have to turn there. I'll read it for you. In Matthew 26 the Bible read, Then did they spit in his face and buffeted him, and others smote him with the palms of their hands. Jesus Christ, the physical anguish that he endured to pay the penalty for our sins, to purchase our salvation, left marks all over his body. And the way in which this veil was constructed or the colors that they used and the way that it looked, its appearance, I believe, points to the beating that Jesus went through. Again, if you were to beat somebody over and over again, you would notice these colors appear in their skin. Regarding Jesus, the story of his death is one that obviously is very powerful, but it draws emotion out of me because you think about what happened to him. It was his own creation that was beating him. It was his own creation that was battering him. It was his own creation that was responsible for his crucifixion. You know, they vilified him. They falsely accused Jesus Christ. They spit on him. His body was beaten over and over and over again. His body was bloodied. His body was broken on our behalf. And that torn veil, I believe, it symbolizes the abuse that he suffered on our behalf, the abuse that he willingly went through so that we can go to heaven for free. Look at Job chapter 7, if you would. Job chapter number 7. I think we see another picture of this in Job chapter 7. So again, my first point is that the veil itself points to Christ's body, the colors specifically, which you would expect to appear on the skin of somebody who's been beaten over and over again like Jesus was, the colors of blue, purple, and crimson, which is a reddish color. In Job chapter 7, it says in verse 5, Job chapter 7 verse 5, where I had you turn, it says in Job 7 verse 5, my flesh is clothed with worms and clogs of dust. Pay attention to this. My skin is broken and become loathsome. Now what you have to understand about Job is that he is a type of Christ. So when you're reading the book of Job and you come across verses like this, you can think of Jesus because he pictures Jesus. He's a type of Christ. He typifies Christ. And obviously, Job had to deal with what? Boils all over his body, which created very dry skin that cracked. And he talks about how his skin was broken and it was loathsome as well. Well, you see that torn veil, I believe, the veil that was rent in twain at the death of Christ, points us to Christ's skin that was broken. Remember, he bled. So his skin was broken just like Job's was here. His skin was torn just as that veil was torn. And of course, his skin being torn, folks, that's intrinsic to suffering. Jesus Christ experienced suffering on his way to the cross, at the cross, after he died when he was buried and his soul went to hell for three days and three nights taking our place. But of course, he didn't stay there. He rose again the third day. But I think that this skin of Job being broken sort of points us to the skin of Christ being broken, which I think is represented by the veil being rent in twain. Now the Bible tells us you don't have to turn there. I'll quote this for you from 1 Corinthians 11. It says, Christ's body was beaten, it was bloody, but it was also broken. Christ's body was broken. And I think when Jesus broke the bread at the Lord's Supper, that symbolizes the fact that it was his own body that would be broken on behalf of the entire world. Now the beaten aspect, I believe, is apparent in the colors of the veil. The broken aspect of what Jesus went through is apparent through the veil being rent in twain, which is the subject of the sermon. But his body being broken, it illustrates the suffering that he went through on the cross. His skin was torn just as the veil was torn in half. And here's what you have to understand about this if you're thinking, well, how do I apply this to my life? You know, whenever you get lazy, whenever it's been a while since you've prayed, whenever it's been a while since you've read your Bible, if you've decided maybe to skip church for multiple weeks in a row, how about you think on or meditate on the sufferings of Christ and everything that he went through? What a shame after everything Jesus Christ accomplished for us to pay the penalty for our sins, to make it possible for us to go to heaven for free, that Christians are too lazy to pick up this book and read it on a regular basis. Now we ought to take heed to these things and use this as motivation for us to serve Jesus Christ to the best of our ability and not backslide into carnality. Go to Jeremiah chapter 31, Jeremiah chapter 31. So again, what's the first spiritual picture that we see with respect to the veil being rent in twain? I believe it points us to the beaten, bloodied, and broken body of Christ. You see that picture through Job, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, clearly describes how Jesus' body would be broken for us. His skin was literally torn just as that veil was torn, and I think that's what we can look at. That's what was represented there when that veil was rent in twain. Again, that miraculous event that occurred at the death of Christ. Now I had you turn to Jeremiah 31 for a reason. Of course, we know that Christ's death marked the beginning of the New Testament. And so that's the second spiritual picture that I believe we can derive from the veil of the temple being rent in twain, the end of the Old Covenant, and the beginning of the New Covenant. Again, the end of the Old Covenant and the beginning of the New Covenant, I believe, was represented by the veil of the temple, which divided the holiest of all from the holy place, being rent in twain, ripped in half. Jeremiah 31, where I had you turn, look down at verse 31. Jeremiah 31, 31, the Bible reads there, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant they, what, break. That veil was broken as well. Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord. Now, there are other covenants or agreements in Scripture. You have the Abrahamic Covenant, which promised him a seed, right? Ultimately, Jesus Christ, a spiritual seed. It also was promised physical descendants as well. You have the Davidic Covenant, which promised that David's descendants would be kings forever, fulfilled in Christ. You have the Noahic Covenant, if you want to call it that. The covenant God made with Noah that he would never flood the earth again. And the token of that agreement was what? A rainbow. It was a rainbow. So there are other agreements you see in Scripture. Well, God made an agreement with the children of Israel. We talk about it or we use this phrase, we talk about it as the Old Covenant or the Old Testament is another way that you can look at it. It's also described as the Mosaic Law. And what you have to understand about it is that it was done away, right? We don't live under the Old Testament anymore. We live under the New Testament and that New Testament began technically at the death of Christ. So when that veil was rent and twain, I believe it also represents the start of the New Testament, the end of the old and the beginning of the new. Now some people get confused about the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament, which is why when we preach out of Leviticus, when we preach things like the death penalty, they'll look at us with scorn and they'll say, well, that's Old Testament. What are you doing preaching out of those books? But let me tell you something right now. Our pastor in this church will continue to preach out of the Old Testament until the day that Jesus Christ comes back because guess what? There are lots of things in there that still apply for us. Now here's what I mean by that. And I'm going to just rip off. Right now I'm about to blatantly rip off Pastor Shelley, all right? But look, if he makes a good point, I'm going to steal it. And that's what I'm doing right now. So I did not come up with this analogy. You guys probably have already heard it. But pretend like you've never heard it, okay? It'll make me feel better. But think about this. Let's say this applies more for the men who work at a job. They're fully employed, a full-time job. Now let's say you're at work and your old boss quits. So he's done away. He waxed old and vanished away. He died, all right? Your old boss died. That's my own little wrinkle. So your old boss died. He's gone. He's finished. Now you have a new boss who comes in. He is now the new boss at your work. Now let's say that your new boss, he decided to implement certain changes at the workplace. Changes like, well, instead of work starting at 7 a.m., it now starts at 8 a.m. You now get a one-hour lunch break instead of a 30-minute lunch break. These all sound like pretty good changes to me. You're going to get paid the same. But here's the thing. He also gives you a dress code change. He now says that jeans are allowed at work. He now says you can wear sweatpants. And I really like sweatpants. Sweatpants are really comfortable. I like wearing sweatpants, by the way. I fully endorse them. And here's a travel tip for you. If you're going to get on an airplane, you're going to travel somewhere, wear the most comfortable clothes you can, and that would be sweatpants. That has nothing to do with the sermon. But here's what I'm trying to say, folks. Your boss comes in, he implements some new rules for you. He implements a different start time for work. He implements a longer lunch period. He implements a different dress code as well. And here's my question for you. When that new boss comes into the workplace and he implements these rule changes, would it be necessary for him to reiterate every single other rule and regulation that had already been in place prior to his arrival? The answer is no, of course not. Because those things obviously still apply if they haven't been changed, if they haven't been addressed. And so I think that parable, if you will, it kind of applies to the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant in the sense that when people ask the question, well, what changed under the New Covenant, it would be those things that were directly addressed in the New Testament, things like the meats and drinks and carnal ordinances, the ceremonial law that we no longer follow because they've been fulfilled in Christ. I think that parable kind of helps you understand the ceremonial law of the Mosaic Covenant has been done away with, but what you have to understand is that the moral law remains. We can still look to the Old Testament to understand what God loves. We can look to the Old Testament to understand what God hates as well. And so we take, you know, we understand, rather, his morality from scores of scriptures that are contained in the Old Testament. Now, there are some differences, obviously, and I'll give you a few examples of some of those differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The first one, obviously, is that the Old Covenant sanctioned physical circumcision, physical circumcision, whereas in the New Testament sanctions only spiritual circumcision, which occurs when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's when you get spiritually circumcised. Obviously, the Old Testament featured animal sacrifices by a hereditary priesthood, an Aaronic Levitical priesthood. Well, the New Testament features a spiritual priesthood made up of all believers who offer up spiritual sacrifices. Under the Old Testament, God chose a physical nation called Israel. That was the nation that he would use, and if you wanted to worship him and serve him to the best of your ability, that's where you had to immigrate. It was a physical nation that God chose in the Old Testament. Well, in the New Testament, it's a spiritual nation which is spread throughout the entire world, and you can serve him at a local church. The Old Testament contained feast days. It contained Sabbath days that have been fulfilled in Christ, these ordinances that are exclusive to the Old Covenant. Well, in the New Testament, we have ordinances like baptism and like the Lord's Supper. So obviously, there are differences, but salvation, whether you lived before the cross or after the cross, was the same. It was always by faith, once saved, always saved. Now, go to Hebrews chapter 8, if you would, Hebrews chapter 8. The veil being rent and twain at the death of Jesus Christ signaled, I believe, the end of the Old Covenant. It signaled the beginning of the New Covenant. The Old Testament is described in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, I believe, as the ministration of death, because it was the law that acted as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. It was almost a mirror that showed us just how imperfect we truly are and how badly we need a Savior. And it was the Old Testament, by the way, that was replaced. You say, well, that kind of sounds like replacement theology. Are you a replacement theologian? Which I don't even know is a real term. Yes, I am. I'm a replacement theologian, if you want to call it that. I'm not a theologian, by the way. Folks, I believe in replacement theology because it's biblical. And I know that doesn't make our old IFP brethren very happy, the Israeli flag-waving old IFP brethren that we have that placed the Star of Remfan behind them as they preached behind their pulpit. And you know what? I hope that they repent of it one day. But I don't care about people's thoughts and feelings. I care about what the Word of God says. And the Bible clearly articulates to us the concept of replacement theology. The physical nation of Israel has been replaced by the spiritual nation of Israel. That's why Jesus Christ himself said in Matthew 21 that the kingdom of God will be taken from them, talking about the physical nation, and given to a spiritual nation which will bring forth the fruits thereof. Now, Hebrews 8, where I had you turn, look at verse 13. People will often say, well, the Old Testament is running concurrent to the New Testament now, and one day God's going to turn his attention back to the physical nation of Israel and save them all. Calvinistically. Well, Hebrews 8 says in verse 13, And that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old, notice, is ready to vanish away. Now, that old covenant was broken. What you have to understand, though, about the Old Testament is that it was glorious. It was wonderful. 2 Corinthians 3 describes it as glorious. It was a glorious covenant. The problem wasn't with the agreement itself. The problem was with the physical nation of Israel. It was with the Israelites. It was with that nation itself that broke the covenant. It was with people. They couldn't hold up to their end of the bargain. The Bible says in this chapter, For finding fault with them he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It was the Jews' fault. It was the people's fault. It was that nation's fault that this agreement was broken. It wasn't God's fault. And so consequently, since the old covenant was broken, it vanished away. And the Bible couldn't be more clear there in Hebrews 8, 13. Christ's death, getting back to kind of the main topic of the sermon here, the death of Jesus Christ was the mechanism by which this could come to pass. Flip over to Hebrews chapter 9, which should be right there in your Bible. Look at verse 15. Go forward to Hebrews 9. We'll be looking at Hebrews 9 multiple times throughout the sermon here, but look at Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 15. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 15. And notice what the Bible said there. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 15. It said, And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, talking about Jesus, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. So Christ's death covered the transgressions that were also under the First Testament. But what does that tell me? It tells me that whether you were looking forward to the cross, or you were looking back to the cross, salvation was by faith. And it was one saved, always saved, going all the way back to the beginning at the fall. That's how people have always been saved. The Bible talks about men calling on the name of the Lord in Genesis. That's how people got saved, by asking Jesus for salvation. Now they may not have known the intricate details of the Gospel yet. They may not have known, for example, the name of Jesus, but they knew that a Messiah would come in the future that would pay the penalty for their sins, and they had to trust him alone to get to heaven. So you can put that in your hyper-dispensationalist pipe and toss it in the trash. Because you shouldn't smoke, so put it in trash. Christ's death, folks, it covered... I don't know how I... I'll probably never be allowed back up here. So Christ's death, it covered those that are under the First Testament. Now here's the thing you have to understand. Again, there's a similarity. And what is that? Salvation. But there were some differences I covered. Now look at verse 16. For where a testament is, Hebrews 9 verse 16, For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator, for a testament is a force after men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. So basically it's saying that a testament or a covenant is authorized by death. That's kind of how it's validated. And obviously the New Testament was validated or authorized by the death of Jesus Christ. Christ's death validated the New Testament and ushered it in, which is why technically that's what it started at the death of Christ. The New Covenant is described in the Bible as a better testament. It is better. There's no doubt about that. It is a better testament. Think about it. Your physical nationality now, where you come from, completely irrelevant. It is completely irrelevant. Now it was relevant, your genealogy, where you came from, was relevant under the Old Covenant. But in the New Testament, it's vanity. Under the New Testament, it doesn't matter. So you can go to a local church anywhere in the world and you can serve God. You can go to a local church and you can worship the Lord. You can draw closer to the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of his word at any church, at a local level, anywhere in the world, hypothetically. Now we're fortunate to be New Testament Christians, aren't we? We're fortunate to be New Testament Christians, aren't we? Again, I think that's what this rending of the veil kind of points us to. The end of the Old Testament, the beginning of the New Testament, which started at the death of Christ, the New Testament started at the death of Christ. I'm not going to get into the minutiae on when exactly the Old Testament ended. It waxed old and vanished away. We know that. But here's the thing. We're fortunate to be New Testament believers. We're fortunate to live under the New Covenant today. No more animal sacrifices that we have to worry about anymore. There was one eternal sacrifice. It was the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, which paid the penalty for our sins. No more animal sacrifices. Whenever you transgress, you don't have to bring an animal to the tabernacle or the temple and have it killed on your behalf. Of course, those animal sacrifices didn't save anybody, but it kept them in good standing with God. There's no dietary law. We can eat anything now. You don't have to avoid bacon, and I know everyone loves bacon. You don't have to avoid bacon. There's no dietary law whatsoever anymore. If you pray and you sanctify your food through prayer, that's all it takes. We can eat whatever we want. There's no physical circumcision. Praise God for that. That seemed like it kind of hurt. No physical circumcision. And you know what? No immigration to a physical nation called Israel is necessary for you to worship God to the best of your ability. Like I said, you can do it at a local New Testament church. Praise God for that. And you can serve God. And you know what? Don't take something like this for granted. We are New Testament Christians today, and the New Testament is better. So you might as well go all in. You might as well get plugged in. You might as well decide, hey, you know what? I'm going to do everything within my power to serve Christ. You know, I'm going to be completely and utterly sold out for Jesus Christ as a New Testament Christian. The New Testament is better. We have certain privileges that the children of Israel did not have. It's easier for us to just waltz right in here. Again, any local church that has the right gospel, that's doing the work of the Lord, you can waltz right in and serve the Lord. There are multiple churches across America that you could go to. It's not just steadfast. But my point is this, the New Testament is better. And the rending of the veil, I think, represented or points us to the end of the old covenant, the beginning of the new covenant. Now obviously, that, the end of the old, the beginning of the new, it brought us something. And that leads me to my third point. It brought us to the termination of religious activity in the temple. My third point is this, that the rending of the temple pictured or points us to represented the ending or the termination of religious activity in the temple. Now this did not happen immediately, but I think it symbolized the fact that that temple would one day be destroyed. It would be done. God was done with it. That's what was signaled, I believe, by the veil being rended in twain. Now go to Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9. The veil being rended denoted the end of religious activity or worship inside the temple of God. This did not happen. This temple wasn't totally destroyed, though, until what? Until 70 AD. Until 70 AD. Again, I think the rending of the veil is kind of a sign of the fact that God would end his sanctioning of the temple for religious worship. That was done. God wasn't going to use it anymore. The veil was torn in half. That religious system was done with. It was over. And in fact, in 2021, the temple no longer exists. It's been wiped out. Now the Jews are going to build another temple in the end times. But the thing is that temple will be used by the anti-Christ. It will be the anti-Christ who rules and reigns from that temple in Jerusalem coming later that the Jews will build and he will declare himself to be God. That's a different sermon for a different time. But I had you turn to Daniel chapter 9. I think this points to what I'm talking about here in Daniel chapter 9. Look at verse 25, if you would. Daniel chapter 9, verse 25, where the Bible read, And under the end of the war, desolations are determined. So here's the thing. This portion of scripture here in Daniel chapter 9, verse 25, describes for us a time period which encompasses one week and 62 weeks. Now one week denotes a seven year period. There's an unknown gap of time between the one week and the 62 weeks. There's an unknown gap of time. And what occurred during this time? What occurred, talking about here in verse 25 and verse 26, is talking about the time period that takes us from the Cyrus Declaration to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. This is Zerubbabel's temple, all the way to the death of Christ. It's a period that lasts one week, I should say, three score and two weeks, which is 62 weeks, and seven weeks. So again, you've got seven weeks, and you've got three score and two weeks. So a period of seven weeks and 62 weeks. Seven weeks and 62 weeks. I might have said that wrong earlier. A period of seven weeks and 62 weeks that leads us to the death of Jesus Christ. And again, there's an unknown period of time between the seven weeks and the 62 weeks. We don't know exactly how long that is, but it's this time period that encompasses the Cyrus Declaration to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem all the way to the death of Christ. Now here's the thing. One week represents seven years. That's what you have to understand. Look at verse 27. We have one week left. This takes us to 69 weeks. Well, there's a 70th week, often called Daniel's 70th week. Look at verse 27. Let's look at the next historical milestone, which occurs after the death of Christ, this next prophetic milestone, if you will, the Roman siege. It says in verse 27, So what are we talking about in Daniel chapter 9? We've got a period of seven weeks and 62 weeks that encompasses the time between the Cyrus Declaration and the death of Jesus Christ. After that point, there's one more week left that's commonly referred to as Daniel's 70th week. And there's a shadow fulfillment, a near future application to Daniel's 70th week, which is what? The destruction of the temple, which occurred in history courtesy of the Roman Empire. Now you have to understand there is an eschatological fulfillment to this, meaning that there is an end times fulfillment to this scripture. There's a doctrine out there called Preterism, which states that basically everything's already been fulfilled in the Bible because of what happened in 70 AD and other events as well. And so basically the doctrine of end times prophecy doesn't even exist essentially in their minds, but that's a false doctrine. There is a fulfillment here in Daniel chapter 9 that is yet to occur that we'll see in the end times courtesy of the Antichrist, but that doesn't mean that there was not a shadow fulfillment that occurred when the Roman Empire invaded Jerusalem, when they desecrated the temple, when they destroyed the temple. Now what are we talking about? We're talking about the first Roman Jewish war. I believe a shadow fulfillment of Daniel chapter 9 is the first Roman Jewish war that encompasses, I believe, the week that's described in Daniel chapter 9 verse 27. The one week described in Daniel 9 verse 27, which is a seven year period is, I think, pointing us to the shadow fulfillment of the scripture, which is the first Roman Jewish war. Now how long did the first Roman Jewish war last? Seven years. It lasted seven years. It lasted from AD 66 to AD 73. That's a seven year period. Now the Bible is perfect. The Bible is unbelievable. The Bible predicted hundreds of years before. The Bible predicted, the book of Daniel predicted before it came to pass that there would be this seven year period in which in the middle of that period the temple would be destroyed. And that's exactly what happened according to history. Also, Daniel predicted that the Messiah would die, but not for himself. So we see that the Bible is amazing and predicts things before they come to pass, but I want to read for you from Wikipedia. It says, the siege of Jerusalem in the year AD 70 was the decisive event of the first Roman Jewish war in which the Roman army captured the city of Jerusalem and destroyed both the city and its temple. So the temple was destroyed when? At AD 70. The Roman army led by the future emperor Titus and with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second in command besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem. The Bible told us in Daniel chapter 9, in the midst of the week the sacrifices would cease. That temple would be desolate. And history tells us that at AD 70 the Roman empire invaded Jerusalem. That the Roman empire in the middle of the Roman Jewish war desolated or destroyed the temple. The word of God authenticated by what actually occurred in scripture. Daniel points us to events that really did happen that were fulfilled. There's a near future application in Daniel chapter 9 and don't get me wrong, there's also coming an end times application that will be fulfilled by the antichrist. But history tells us that in the middle of that Roman Jewish war, in the middle of that period that lasts from 66 AD to 73 AD, that seven year period, in the middle of that period at 70 AD, during that time the Romans invaded, during that time the temple was completely destroyed. And I think that the veil of the temple being rent was kind of the first domino to fall that points us to the temple being wiped off the face of the planet eventually, which I think is reminiscent of the fact that God's done with it. That God would be done with the religious activity that had taken place in the temple for a long period of time. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3 if you would. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. It was Jesus who said in Matthew 24, So the temple was wiped out. Jesus prophesied of this event coming to pass and it occurred at the midpoint of the Roman, the first Roman Jewish war which took place from AD 66 to AD 73. Specifically in the year AD 70 when the temple was wiped out. The sacrifices ceased like Daniel 9 told us would occur. And again this is a shadow fulfillment, a near future application of the prophecy that we see in Daniel chapter 9 fulfilled by the Roman Empire. There is no more temple is the point I'm trying to make. There is no more temple on the earth today sanctioned by God. No more building physical temple that is sanctioned by God on the earth today. But the question is that you might be wondering, is there some kind of temple though, not necessarily a physical building, but some kind of temple that we could look to or that is still sanctioned under the New Testament? And the answer is yes, there is. It's you. Peter said in 2 Peter 1, That I must put off this my tabernacle even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me. So he described his own body as a tabernacle. Where I had you turn in 1 Corinthians 3, look at verse 16. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 16 says, The Bible says that you are the temple of God. There is no more physical temple for you to go worship. There's no physical temple anymore, which by the way, pictures your body anyway. You are the temple of God in the New Testament. Welcome to the house of God today. Different components all joined together to create the house of God. You are the temple of God the Bible says. Now remember, it was the presence of God that dwelt where? In the innermost section of the tabernacle. The innermost section of the temple is where the presence of God dwelt, the Ark of the Covenant. Well, the presence of God dwells inside you, inside each and every one of you who are saved. I'm talking about the Holy Ghost. He's called the Holy Ghost. The temple of God dwells inside us. He's the Holy Ghost. So you have to understand the ramifications of this doctrine, the magnitude of this doctrine. You are the temple of God today. So don't desecrate it. Just as sure as if you lived in ancient Israel, you would never think to desecrate the temple of God back then, presumably. Well, you would never, you should never want to do that today. Take care of yourself. Don't destroy the temple. You say, how do people destroy their own temple? Well, how about this? Through drugs? How about this? Through alcohol? How about this? By injecting themselves with poison? How about this? Through fornication? There are people who are defiling their temple over and over and over again today, desecrating the temple, treating the temple like a piece of garbage. Folks, you are the temple of God. Treat it with some respect. You are the temple of God. Act like it. Let's all act like it. We're the temple. God's presence dwells within us. Don't abuse the tabernacle that God has given you. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God by living a life that's defined by sin. 1 Kings 8, I'm just going to quote this for you. You don't have to turn there. In 1 Kings 8, it says, And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. So here's what's sort of interesting about this. The temple, that building that they all worshiped in, was filled with the glory of the Lord. At times it filled with smoke. This is a picture of us being filled by the Holy Spirit of God. Us being filled by the Holy Spirit of God. This temple was filled with a cloud on multiple occasions. And so what I'm trying to explain to you is this. Rather than desecrating the temple, living a life of sin, grieving the Holy Ghost, why don't you engage in some spiritual activities that would get you filled with the Spirit of God? Engage in spiritual activities, read your Bible, pray, go to church, get filled with the Spirit. And that's a pretty good way to treat your temple with some respect. Now since religious activity eventually ceased in the temple, we know that the torn veil also represents something else. The unification of Jew and Gentile in Christ. And that's my fourth point. The unification of Jew and Gentile in Christ. Go to Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2. We are the priesthood in the New Testament. We're a royal priesthood, we're a spiritual priesthood. Your genealogy does not matter. Now in the Old Testament, an individual's genealogy would determine their land inheritance. It would determine their eligibility for the hereditary, Levitical, Aaronic priesthood. But today, your genealogy really doesn't matter at all. Galatians 3 says, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bought nor free, there is neither male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. Those who are in Christ are one regardless of their physical attributes. Regardless of where you come from, we're all one in Jesus Christ. Your genealogy, your lineage is meaningless in the New Testament. It had some meaning in the Old Testament in the sense that it determined certain things. But in the New Testament, it doesn't matter whatsoever. It's just vanity. It's vanity. Whether you're Arab, like me. Whether you're Mexican. Whether you're black. Whether you're white. It doesn't matter. Whether you're white, black, green, yellow, red, blue, orange. It doesn't matter at all in the sight of God because at the end of the day, here in the New Testament, we're all one in Christ Jesus. No matter what skin color you are. No matter what you look like when you look in the mirror. Hey, we're all one in Christ. We're all one in Christ. Ephesians 2 says in verse 12, where I had you turn, Ephesians chapter 2, look at verse 12. That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. He's talking to a Gent, Paul talking to a Gentile audience explaining that at one point they were basically strangers. They were foreigners. But it says in verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. So just to assure us that veil was rent and twain at the death of Christ, the middle wall of partition, you know, essentially, that divided the holiest of all from the holy place. Well, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, brought in the New Testament, that middle wall of partition that separated Jew and Gentile was also rent and twain in a sense. It was broken. That wall was broken. That division was broken. No longer do you have to immigrate to a physical nation in order to worship God to the best of your ability. No longer do you have to worry about what your physical lineage is. We're all part of a spiritual priesthood with Jesus Christ as our high priest. Regardless of your ethnicity, folks, here under the New Covenant, you can serve God anywhere all over the world. And that is essentially completely meaningless. Look at Ephesians chapter 3, Ephesians chapter 3. I'll quote for you from Romans 11. It says, Now those verses I quoted for you are twisted by Zionists to teach that one day the Jews will magically get saved regardless of their free will and that all Israel will one day just be totally saved, miraculously, so that means if George Soros can make it to the end of Daniel's 70th week, he's magically going to get saved. Adam Sandler, Neil Diamond, all these Jews, I can't think, the Rothschilds? If they can make it to the end, man, they're good to go according to the Zionist doctrine. But that's not actually what the Bible is teaching. What it's explaining to us is that Israel is going to be partially blinded. Paul is saying that Israel is going to be blinded until the millennium, which is when the fullness of the Gentiles will come in. And then that nation, which is ruled over by Jesus Christ at the millennium for the 1,000 year reign of Christ, that nation of Israel will consist entirely of the saved. And it will consist of entirely the saved from all different kindreds, all different nations, no matter their ethnicity. Ephesians 3 is where I had you turn. Look at verse 3. How that by revelation he made known unto us the mystery. We just read about a mystery in Romans 11. As I wrote a foreign few words, skip down to verse 6 just for sake of time. It says that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. The Bible says that the Gentiles will be what? Fellow heirs. Because that partition has been broken between Jew and Gentile. They're going to be fellow heirs with us. And of course they could have believed on Christ even before the cross and gotten saved. That blood that was spilled at Calvary retroactively applies to them as well. Jesus was slain from before the foundation of the world. But these Gentiles, fellow heirs, the Bible says, remember the veil has been rent. That partition has been broken in half. Your physical nation, your lineage, your genealogy does not matter to God. In fact the Bible tells us in the book of Titus to avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings about the law for they are what? Unprofitable and vain. Meaning they have no meaning. Now go to Leviticus 16. I'm going to go to my last point. Leviticus chapter 16. There's two genealogies in your New Testament if you have read it before you'll notice. Both are associated with Christ himself. Joseph and Mary. Joseph who was the father of Jesus as was supposed. Not obviously the physical father but as was supposed and we have his genealogy also the genealogy of Mary. Now look at Leviticus 16. Here's my final point. I'm going to wind the sermon down now. My fifth and final point is this. The veil of the temple being rent also represents direct access to God the Father. And of course you'll have direct access to the Father in heaven but you can also enjoy direct access to God the Father here on earth. And I'll develop that in a second. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 3 and not as Moses was put a veil over his face that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look unto the end that which is abolished but their minds were blinded for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament which veil is done away in Christ. So Moses' face the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 3. I had to turn to Leviticus 16 but I just wanted to make this point quickly. Moses' face it shined as a result of being in the presence of God and there was a veil covering it preventing the Israelites from seeing that glory. Just as sure as there was a veil that had been covering the entrance into the innermost sanctuary of the temple that would prevent your everyday Israelite from seeing the presence of God inside the holiest of all. Now Moses also was a mediator. He had access to God. In the New Testament us believers, today we have access to God through prayer and it's Jesus who acts as our high priest. Jesus is our mediator as well. There's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus the Bible says. I had you turn to Leviticus 16. I wanted to just show you the role of the high priest when it comes to entering the holiest of all, the innermost portion of the tabernacle. Then I'll end with an application for you to take home and we'll be done. Leviticus 16 says in verse 2 So the high priest, he entered the holiest of all. He entered that innermost compartment of the sanctuary once every year. Just one time every year and he did it on the day of atonement which take place on the tenth day of the seventh month in the Hebrew calendar year. And notice that there were certain garments, holy garments that the high priest had to wear that were necessitated for him to enter the innermost sanctuary. It talks about a linen coat, linen breeches which are symbolic of righteousness. They had to have a certain kind of righteousness in order to enter the holiest of all. Holiness itself was a prerequisite to enter God's presence inside the innermost portion of the sanctuary. Look over at Hebrews chapter 9, Hebrews chapter 9. So what did the high priest do? Well he took the blood of an animal sacrifice and sprinkled it on the mercy seat which is atop the Ark of the Covenant. Inside the Ark of the Covenant it contained the law tablets, the law of God. And what that symbolizes is God's mercy covering our inability to keep the law. And so he sprinkled the blood on the top of that mercy seat. Now this is exactly what Jesus accomplished for us in heaven because that innermost portion of the sanctuary, remember, it figures heavenly places. It figures heaven itself and Jesus as our high priest, he sprinkled his own blood on the mercy seat. It wasn't the blood of an animal, it was his own blood. It was a perfect sacrifice. The perfect blood of Christ was sprinkled on the mercy seat in heaven. The Bible talks about him as a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6 refers to him as our forerunner. So he went into that holiest of all, heaven itself, and sprinkled his blood on the mercy seat. Hebrews 9 where I had you turn, look at verse 24. Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the truth, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others. For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the world that he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So remember, the high priest entered into the holiest of all, the innermost portion of the sanctuary, once every year. That means they had to do it every year. It was an annual event. They continued to do it every year. Well, Jesus Christ only had to enter into heaven and sprinkle his own blood on the mercy seat one time. It was one death. One death. One time in which he had to enter into the... It was one death, one burial, one resurrection, and one time in which he entered into the holiest of all in heaven and sprinkled his blood on the mercy seat. And that's what the Bible is trying to explain to us here as it parallels the high priest that was in the Old Testament to Jesus Christ himself. Again, unlike those Old Testament high priests, Jesus just had to sprinkle his own blood, by the way. The high priests, they sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat to atone for themselves and the heirs of the people. Well, Jesus sprinkled...and they did it every year, by the way. Jesus sprinkled his own blood in heaven to atone for our sins. He was perfect. He didn't have to atone for any of his own sins because he was perfect. He was sinless. But he sprinkled his own blood on the mercy seat and he only had to do it one time. But what's the purpose of me explaining that? Well, Jesus only had to die once. He only had to be crucified one time. And you know what? Tell that to the Catholics who continue to make an idol, a blasphemous idol of Jesus and place it on a cross, every single church service. Tell that to the Catholics who keep re-crucifying Christ. Tell that to the Catholics who keep killing Jesus Christ every time they pretend that the bread that they're eating is his literal body. Every time they teach people that they can lose their salvation, hey, Jesus Christ only had to die one time. And if you claim you could lose your salvation, you might as well put him back there on the cross. If you think you could lose your salvation, if you believe in a workspace salvation like the Catholics do, then what you're saying is that your filthy rags have to add to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. But let me tell you something right now. Folks, Christ accomplished everything necessary for you to go to heaven regardless of whatever filthy rags you want to try and add into that equation. He only had to die one time. He only had to be buried one time. He only had to go to hell to pay the penalty for our sins one time. He had to resurrect one time. And it took one moment in time for you to get saved. It took one moment in time for you to decide, hey, I want to believe the gospel today. It only took one time for you to decide in your heart, I believe what the Bible says about how to go to heaven. It was one time in which you decided to, yes, Norm Diamante, call on the name of the Lord and ask to be saved. And it was one spiritual birth. You only got to be born one time physically. You only have to be born one time spiritually as well. Jesus died once so that you only have to get saved once. He resurrected once so that you one day could be resurrected with a glorified body yourself. It was one time in history that this occurred. Meanwhile, those Levitical high priests had to continually do it every year because, of course, they were imperfect. All that was just a figure anyway of what Jesus did for us. Now go to Revelation chapter 7. Revelation chapter 7. I'm almost done, by the way. Just bear with me. This is almost done. But here's what I'm trying to explain to you, folks. Jesus, when he sprinkled his own blood on the mercy seat, we went through some of the intricacies of that. That enables us one day to dwell with God in heaven. That enables us one day to dwell with God in heaven thanks to what Jesus did for us as our high priest. Now I had you turn to Revelation 7. Look at verse 13. Revelation 7 verse 13, the Bible says, And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are red and white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto them, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne shall, notice, dwell among them. Remember, the entrance into the holiest of all, which was a figure of God's dwelling place, that earthly tabernacle, that earthly temple, entrance into that innermost portion of the sanctuary where God figuratively dwelt, was predicated on what? It was predicated on the high priest, first of all, wearing special holy garments and carrying with him the blood of an animal sacrifice. I want you to pay attention to the parallels here. What did we just read in Revelation chapter 7? That when we get to heaven, we're going to have our own garments on, but the thing is, the garments that we're going to be wearing in heaven delineate the imputed righteousness of Christ on our behalf. We didn't earn our salvation. Jesus imputed his perfection unto us, the holiest of all. Remember, it pictured God's throne as well. That necessitated certain holy garments. But we're going to be before God's throne in heaven one day. We're going to have garments that point to the imputed righteousness of Christ. Jesus rent the veil in twain when he died on the cross, which enables us to walk right through that rent veil and dwell with God in heaven forever. Now here's the thing. You can dwell or you can commune with God before you get to heaven. You can do it right here. You can do it right now. You can close your eyes and do it right now while I'm preaching if you wanted to. Folks, it's called prayer. Go to Hebrews 4 and we'll be done. Hebrews 4 and you'll be done. We will be done. All of us will be done. We get to go home. Hebrews 4 and we'll be done. Last place I wanted to turn to. So again, what am I talking about? I'm talking about the veil being rent in twain, kind of pointing us to the fact that we will one day dwell with God in his presence forever. That innermost portion of the sanctuary, it was a figure of heaven itself. That veil was rent so we can just waltz right in and dwell with God in the real, his real dwelling place in heaven. Jesus paved the way for us to do that. Now look at Hebrews 4. We can commune with him by reading our Bible obviously, but you can also commune with him through prayer. It says in Hebrews 4 verse 15, For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace and help of time of need. What's this saying? The sacrifice of Christ enables us to what? Go boldly unto the throne of grace. We can pray directly to the Father. We have direct line of communication to the Father. The veil of the temple was rent. We can now access God the Father. We can access that presence of God through prayer. We can communicate directly with the Father. Jesus said, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. You can communicate directly to God the Father. What a privilege! What a privilege to go directly to God, to lay your burdens on him through prayer. Folks, we have the boldness to enter into the innermost portion of the sanctuary in a figurative perspective. By the blood of Christ, we can enter the innermost portion of the sanctuary. We can enter the holiest of all. We have the boldness to commune with God the Father through his word. We have the boldness to commune with God the Father through prayer and to obtain grace and time of need like the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 4. Now you might be wondering, Ben, I haven't gone to church in a while. I'm kind of backslidden right now. I've got a lot of sin in my life. What do I do? Well, here's some good news for you. The Bible tells us if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. You have that direct line of communication to get it right today. See, now is the accepted time, the Bible says. You can get it right now. Folks, you can get on your knees and say, Lord, I know I'm in sin. You can get on your knees and say, Lord, I know that my life's been overtaken by sin. I know I've been walking in the flesh rather than the Spirit. I know I haven't been serving you to the best of my ability. I know that my life's been choked by the cares of this world, but God, please help me to get better. Lord, help me to walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh. Lord, help me to serve you with everything I've got and rebuild my Christian life. You have that open line directly to God the Father. The veil of the temple was rent. You say, ah, man, I'm dealing with a lot of hardship in my life right now. You don't understand everything I'm going through. Well, again, the veil of the temple was rent. Communication directly with the Father. Lay your burdens on Him. Pray for wisdom. Pray for mercy. Not just that, but pray for help in time of need like the Bible talks about. Pray for healing. Pray for guidance. Lay your burdens on God. How often do you take advantage of that privilege? How often do you take advantage of the fact that that veil has been rent for you? So you have direct line of communication with the Father. You can speak through the Father. And it's not because of your own righteousness. It's not because of your own works. It's not because of anything that you did to earn it. It's because of what Jesus Christ did for you. His righteousness imputed on your behalf. Makes it so that you can call on God at any time that you need to. You have that open line of communication with the Father. You can go boldly under the Holy of Holies. You can commune with the Creator of the universe. Think of the magnitude of that. Because of what Jesus accomplished for you at Calvary. Folks, you can waltz right into that holiest of all. You can waltz right in like you practically own the place. You can waltz right through that veil which has been rent. Folks, the veil of the temple was rent. You have an open line of communication with God the Father. And that's a beautiful thing. You say, why are you making this such a big deal? I want you to think about this. When Moses, his face shined at the presence of God. He had that veil to protect the Israelites from that glory. What happened to him? Well, he changed in a sense. You know, communing with God. The privilege that we have to commune with God through his word. The privilege that we have to commune with God by prayer. It can change us in the same way. It changes us, in fact. You say, well I do all those things and I'm not changing. You're doing it wrong. We all can change by communing with the Lord. Communing with God changes us. And we have that privilege. Don't take it for granted. We have that privilege. Use it. The veil of the temple was rent. And here's what I believe that symbolizes. Christ's beaten, bloodied, and broken body. The end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new covenant. The termination of religious activity in the temple. The unification of Jew and Gentile in Christ. Direct access to God the Father was the final point that I made. I just want to leave you with this statement. Praise God, folks. Let's thank God for this tonight. When you get home and it's time for prayer. Praise God that the veil of the temple was rent. Powerheads for a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for what you've accomplished for us, Lord. And I just pray that, Father, we would take advantage of the fact that, hey, the veil of the temple was rent. We have that direct access. Lord, I also pray that you would help us to understand the deeper meaning of some of the events that have occurred in Scripture so that we can apply them to our lives. And we thank you for our church and I just pray that you would bless this place and protect it from the enemies that want to destroy it. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you for the message, Brother Ben. Let's go ahead and take out our hymnal. We'll sing our last song for this morning. Go ahead and turn to three hundred and fourteen. More love to thee. Again, that's three hundred and fourteen. Three fourteen, more love to thee. More love to thee, O Christ, more love to thee. Hear thou the prayer I make on bended knee. This is my earnest plea, more love, O Christ, to thee. More love to thee, more love to thee. Once earthly joy I crave sought peace and rest. Now thee alone I seek, give what is best. This all my prayer shall be, more love, O Christ, to thee. More love to thee, more love to thee. Let sorrow do its work, send grief and pain. Sweet are thy messengers, sweet they're reframed. When they can sing with me, more love, O Christ, to thee. More love to thee, more love to thee. Then shall my latest breath whisper thy praise. This be the parting cry my heart shall raise. This still its prayer shall be, more love, O Christ, to thee. More love to thee, more love to thee. Amen. Thank you all for coming. God bless. You are dismissed.