(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

men if you would flip over in your Bible to Matthew chapter 27 we'll come back to Hebrews but go to Matthew chapter 27 the title of my sermon this morning is the rending of the veil the rending of the veil of course rending means to tear something like to tear fabric people in the Bible sometimes when they're upset would rend their garments they would tear their clothing well the Bible talks about the fact that when Jesus died on the cross the moment that he died the veil in the temple which is basically like a fabric curtain is ripped in half from top to the bottom look down at your Bible there in Matthew 27 verse 50 the Bible reads Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice yielded up the ghost so he screams out one last time he cries out one last time he breathes his last breath he yields up the ghost and verse 51 and behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain it was ripped in two from the top to the bottom and the earth did quake and the rocks rent so there's an earthquake there are these signs that happen while Jesus is on the cross there's darkness upon the face of the earth there's an earthquake that happens and in the process of that earthquake rocks you know break apart as happens in earthquakes and as a result of this the veil in the temple during this earthquake actually gets ripped in half and if you would flip over to Luke chapter 23 Luke 23 while you're turning to Luke 23 I'll read for you from mark 15 mark 15 37 says and Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost and the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom and when the centurion which stood over against him saw that he so cried out and gave up the ghost he said truly this man was the son of God look if you would at Luke 23 verse 44 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 and when Jesus had cried with a loud voice he said father into thy hands I commend my spirit and having said thus he gave up the ghost now when the centurion saw what was done verse 47 he glorified God saying certainly this was a righteous man so what is the rending of the veil represent it must be pretty significant because the earthquake is only mentioned in Matthew not in Mark and Luke so you know not every gospel gives the same details right sometimes they're emphasizing certain things and leaving out other things but this one detail makes it into Mark and Matthew and Luke about the veil in the temple being ripped in half it's significant what was the veil well flip back if you would to Exodus chapter 26 while you're turning to Exodus 26 the first point is that the rending of the veil represents the breaking of the body of Jesus Christ so the first significance is that the veil represents Jesus and the veil ripping in half signifies the fact that Jesus Christ body was broken if you remember Jesus the Last Supper prophesies this where he breaks bread with them and he breaks the bread and he says this is my body which is broken for you and then he takes the cup and says this cup is the New Testament in my blood and so he's prophesying that he's going to die on the cross that his body is going to be broken that his blood is going to be shed but you're turning to Exodus 26 I'm going to read for you from Hebrews 10 the Bible says in Hebrews 10 19 having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh so the Bible flat-out tells us that the veil represents the body of Christ it represents the flesh of Christ it says there's a new living way to go into that most holy place in the temple through the veil that is to say his flesh the veil represents his flesh now if you understand what the veil was it's a it's a partition it's a barrier it's blocking the way between the holy place and the most holy place it's separating those two things but when the veil is ripped in half it actually becomes an opening it actually becomes a way in through the veil now look down at your Bible at Exodus 26 31 let's get some detail on the veil here it says now shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twine linen of cunning work with cherubims shall it be made now what is the significance here of these colors blue purple and Scott these are the colors of blood you know Jesus Christ was beaten and the Bible says he was bruised for our iniquities and so what color is a bruise bruises are purple and blue red is the color of blood and the blood when it's under our skin is blue or purple and so the beating and the scourging of Jesus would have made Jesus back be this color it would have been blue and purple and scarlet and so this represents the bruised beaten bloody body of Christ and so that's what those colors mean and then it says in verse 32 that's how to hang it upon four pillars of shitim wood overlaid with gold their hooks shall be of gold upon the four sockets of silver so the veil is hung on these four pillars and so you can see how when there's an earthquake these pillars go two different directions and it just rips that veil from the top to the bottom and this type of wood is significant too because this shitim wood this type of tree is an acacia tree what we would know in Arizona as an acacia tree one of the cool things about living in Arizona of course there are hundreds but what you know one of the cool things about living in Arizona is that a lot of the plant life here is actually the same plant life that you would find in Palestine so if we were over there where the events of the New Testament took place you'll see a lot of the same type of desert plants over there it's a similar climate similar plant life you know in fact that you know the Joshua trees that grow over in the Mojave Desert just in the very western part of Arizona are only found in two places in the world as I understand it and that is of course the Mojave Desert in Southern California Arizona and also in Palestine and so the acacia trees here in Arizona are similar to the type of trees that are over in Palestine and you'll notice when you look at these trees that they have these big giant thorns on them right and it's not just cactuses in Arizona that will stab you everything in Arizona is trying to stab you in some way and so if you look at the trees you'll actually look on the branches they have these big jagged thorns coming off them right here in Arizona you can see some very long thorns inches long and of course we know that Jesus Christ was crowned with a crown of thorns made from those type of thorns made from this tree the shittim tree that's mentioned here that's the plural of course but basically this is another picture of Christ here the wood that's all throughout the tabernacle is this type of wood that represents pain it represents punishment it represents the the crown of thorns but also it just represents just the the judgment punishment atonement etc so everything in the tabernacle everything in the temple later is going to be symbolic so it says thou shalt hang upon the veil excuse me verse 33 thou shalt hang up the veil under the tatches you say oh the Bible has all these hard words tatches well it's attach the tatch is what you use to attach right the tatches that thou may is bring in thither within the veil the arc of the testimony and the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy so it's a divider right and now shot put the mercy seat upon the arc of the testimony in the most holy place and that's not set the table without the veil and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south and thou shalt put the table on the north side so what's interesting is that the veil starts out as being a divider in the Old Testament but in the New Testament it becomes the exact opposite of a divider it becomes a pathway it becomes a conduit it becomes a way into the holy place whereas in the Old Testament the veil is doing what it's keeping people out of the holy place or the most holy place Jesus brings people in Jesus opens it up and so it ripped in half to signify the way being opened into the most holy place now it's interesting to look at this furniture here in verse 35 it says thou shall set the table without the veil and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south so outside of the veil is the candlestick and the showbread which represents the Word of God because the Word of God is often represented by bread it's a light unto our feet lamp into our feet light into our path and so the light is outside of the veil you know so that basically unsaved people basically are being shown at least the way pointed to the veil pointed to Christ the bread represents the Word of God the light represents the Word of God but then inside the most holy place is the Ark of the Covenant and the golden sensor and that's the most holy place in the Old Testament it was very protected because God is trying to teach us and emphasized us the Old Testament how inaccessible God is to man whereas Jesus Christ brings us nigh unto God in the New Testament and then I'll just quickly read this I want you to flip back to Hebrews chapter 9 at the end of the New Testament Hebrews chapter 9 and I'm going to quickly read for you from 2nd Chronicles about the about the temple itself because remember eventually the tabernacle was replaced by the temple and in the temple it says in 2nd Chronicles 3 14 and he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson and fine linen and rot cherry beams thereon so I just want to show you that the the veil also exists in the temple in the same way that existed in the tabernacle so number one the tearing of the veil the rending of the veil represents the broken body of Jesus and how Jesus Christ is the way to reach God he said no man cometh unto the Father but by me so instead of being a partition the ripped veil the broken body of Christ is actually an invitation to come in not a partition to keep you out the second thing that the veil represents so number one it represents the broken body of Jesus that's why it's red and blue and purple because it's that broken body but number two it it represents the beginning of the New Testament the beginning of the New Testament now when we hear the words New Testament and Old Testament we're typically thinking of the two divisions of the Bible you know we got our Bible here and part of it's called the Old Testament and then in other parts called the New Testament but that's not really what the word testament means in the Bible the word testament in the Bible means covenant and those two words are used interchangeably and a covenant or a testament is a solemn agreement or some kind of a solemn guarantee or promise or agreement or contract if you will and the reason that the books of the Old Testament are called the Old Testament is because of the fact that they obviously are the books that are all written before the Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ brings in the New Testament and then the New Testament are the books that are written after the Lord Jesus Christ has died on the cross and been buried and risen again so that's of course a great division to have in our Bible between the Old Testament books and the New Testament books but we have to understand is that when we start reading in Matthew chapter 1 we're not really into the New Covenant yet because Jesus hasn't died yet right so when we're in chapter 2 3 4 all the way up until Jesus dies it's still the Old Testament as far as what time period they're living in it's still the Old Covenant it's not the New Covenant until Jesus dies on the cross so there's a moment in time when the New Covenant begins when the New Testament begins not talking about the books but talking about the actual covenant the actual testament the actual contract look if you would at Hebrews chapter 9 verse 15 I'll show you what I mean Hebrews chapter 9 verse 15 and for this cause he is the mediator and notice doesn't say he's a mediator it's not like well as Jesus there's Mary there's the Saints there's Buddha Krishna no no he's the mediator there's one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus it says he is the mediator of the New Testament that by means of death for the transgressions excuse me for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament day which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance watch this 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 when did the New Testament come into force with the death of the testator right and that's Jesus now what this is talking about is it's using an illustration of like a last will and testament we've probably heard that right last will and testament what does that mean well when someone dies let's say they have a lot of money and a lot of possessions and a lot of property what they do is they make an official document saying who they want to inherit their stuff they don't want it to just be verbal I split everything you know because you know it could be a lot of money and after people die sometimes people are greedy and they're fighting over stuff so before people die they'll often lay down this solemn document and it is like we said a contract or covenant or a guarantee and so they have their last will and testament and so when somebody has a will it's it's also called a testament right and so here's the thing let's say that last will and testament says that I'm gonna inherit X amount of money from dad well I can't bring that document to a lawyer and say hey I want this money now my dad owes me this now he's gonna say this document means nothing this document has no force of law this document doesn't give you any entitlement to anything because the testator is still alive right now after he dies this document suddenly means something but without the death of the testator it's not enforced yet okay and so the Bible says a testament is a force after men are dead otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth and so Jesus Christ dying is what actually initiates the New Testament that's the beginning of the New Testament it says whereupon verse 18 whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood for when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to law he took the blood of calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book and all the people saying this is the blood of the Testament with God which God has enjoined unto you moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry and almost all things are by the law purged with blood and without shedding of blood is no remission okay now let me start out by saying this the New Testament is not a new way of salvation because the way of salvation has always been there from the beginning of time until now okay because Jesus Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world and Old Testament Saints still had salvation available unto them through Christ because the New Covenant the New Testament is not a new way of salvation okay now here's what you have to understand the Old Covenant again we're not talking about the two sets of books in the Bible we're talking about the agreements or the covenants okay the Old Covenant the first covenant was not something that had anything to do with Adam or Noah or Abraham or Isaac or Jacob you know Abraham this covenant the Old Covenant the Old Testament was not made with Abraham or Isaac or Jacob where was the Old Covenant made according to this scripture that we just read it's made with Moses am I right what the Bible calls the Old Testament is the the agreement that was made with the children of Israel on Mount Sinai with Moses they're sprinkling the blood of animals and saying this is the blood of the Covenant which God has enjoined unto you now why is this significant because this isn't about salvation the covenant that's made on Mount Sinai is a covenant between God and the nation of Israel that he's gonna be their God and they're gonna be his people and he's gonna bring them into the Promised Land and they're gonna follow these laws and he's gonna bless them and so on they're gonna be a peculiar people a holy nation you know I'm not gonna go into all that that entails but there's that old covenant that's made with the nation of Israel okay and then what you have is the New Covenant which God does not make with a specific physical nation but it's a new covenant where instead of God's chosen people being a specific physical nation in the New Testament God's chosen people is just all believers everyone who believes on Christ red yellow black and white we don't have to be circumcised we don't have to go to Jerusalem three times a year we don't have to be living in the Holy Land we don't have to follow certain ordinances or statutes in order to be God's people all we have to do is believe on Jesus Christ that's the New Covenant the new you could call it the New Deal you know not to get confused with Franklin Roosevelt or something but it's a New Deal the New Covenant the New Testament okay that's the deal it's not a new way of salvation okay because salvation has always been by grace through faith salvation in the Old Testament it was still by calling upon the name of Lord I mean you go back to Genesis chapter 4 and it says then began men to call upon the name of the Lord right so there are a bunch of people in Genesis 4 calling on the name of Lord and being saved obviously you'd add individuals before that but that's when men began in plural to call upon the name of the Lord and so we have people being saved not by works not by deeds of righteousness not by following the Mosaic law which wasn't even gonna show up for another couple thousand years but no they're getting saved by calling upon the name of the Lord just like we today get saved by doing what calling upon the name of the Lord the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved now let me tell you something at Mount Sinai did God roll out and say here's a plan of salvation here's how you're gonna get to heaven is that what Mount Sinai is about I mean when you're reading Exodus is that what is talked about no the covenant made at Mount Sinai is a covenant made with the house of Israel it's a covenant made with the house of Judah it's a covenant about being God's chosen people about being in the promised land about being a holy nation a peculiar people that's what it's about not about hey here's how you get to heaven because you know what getting to heaven was already dealt with back with Adam and Eve Adam and Eve there's there's that lamb that sacrificed right and they put on those coats of skins from that animal that sacrificed and God tells them that the seed of the woman is going to bruise the head of the serpent and it's prophesied that Jesus Christ will one day come the Messiah is going to come Christ is gonna come that goes all the way back to the very beginning has nothing to do with the old covenant okay so I don't want you to misunderstand this when the Bible is teaching that the old covenant gives way to the new covenant when Jesus dies that's not saying well you know that's when salvation becomes available because you know what Jesus Christ already saving people before he died on the cross what about when he says to people your faith has saved you thy faith has saved thee right or how about when Jesus says to Zacchaeus salvation has come to this house today so he's offering salvation before he dies on the cross because it was already as good as done anyway in that sense and Jesus Christ has been offering salvation all the way back with Adam and Eve and all the way through the old covenant and all the way into the new covenant because the two covenants don't have anything to do with that now I'll tell you why people get confused on this I don't want to get off on too much of a rabbit trail here but I'll tell you why people get confused on this is because they believe that the Jews are still God's chosen people today don't they I mean they think like the nation of Israel that's God's chosen people so because they don't understand the fact that the Old Testament was with the nation of Israel and that the New Testament now opens that up to everybody and says that everybody who's saved is God's chosen people it's a it's a nation that's of all peoples Jew Gentile red yellow black white they don't believe that they don't get that they're confused on that so now what you end up with is like no difference really that's actually significant between the Old and New Covenant so then they're like oh it's a different salvation that's absurd you want to know why it's absurd because if you could be saved by works in the Old Testament why can't you be saved by works right now I'll tell you why because you're not righteous well you know the Old Testament they're saved by works oh really they're saved by a filthy rag because the Bible says all our righteousness is there as a filthy rag so let me ask you something if I could be saved by a filthy rag in the Old Testament why do I need the blood of Jesus in the New Testament I'll tell you why because nobody's ever been saved by a filthy rag that's why and if you think you're saved because of how good you are or because you're keeping the commandments or because you turned away from your life of sin you're trusting in a filthy rag to get you to heaven and it's not gonna happen okay Jesus Christ is the only way anybody could ever get into heaven otherwise why did even need to die on the cross if righteousness come by the law then Christ is dead in vain his death is a waste if you could be saved by the law and that's why the Bible says it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins it's not possible how can killing an animal get you to heaven that's stupid I mean how many animals do I have to kill to get into heaven you know what I mean it's like just slaughtering animal after animal folks the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins all that was is just a ritual a symbol some kind of a sign to point us to Jesus Christ right when that lamb is killed it helps us visualize you know the blood on the altar making an atonement for our sin because look down at your Bible it says in verse 23 was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifice than these for Christ is not in and into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us so here's the thing in the Bible it teaches that there's a tabernacle in heaven and that the tabernacle that was made on this earth is patterned after the tabernacle in heaven and the temple on this earth was just patterned after something that exists in heaven right and so obviously killing an animal at some tent out in the desert isn't gonna get you say you know it's just as absurd as when people today think that baptism gets them into heaven like you think getting dunked underwater is gonna get you into heaven you think somebody's sprinkling water on you or pouring water on you is gonna get you into heaven it's crazy but I'll tell you what is gonna get you into heaven the death burial and resurrection of Jesus and when you get baptized it pictures the death burial and resurrection that's why the figure of baptism saves us baptism doesn't save us but the figure of baptism saved us because what's baptism a figure of his death burial and resurrection which is exactly what saves us well here's the thing the the lamb being killed on an altar can't save you but guess what the Lamb of God can save you Jesus the real Lamb of God okay and that holy place the most holy place I mean what's so holy about that place anyway here's what made it so holy is that it's a picture of the real most holy place in heaven and so the earthly things were sanctified by these earthly things of you know the blood of bulls of goats but it was necessary that the heavenly things themselves at the end of verse 23 there they needed to be purified with better sacrifices than these you know you're not gonna bring some goat blood up into heaven itself you know in heaven itself in the real place it's the blood of Jesus that's on that altar not some animal from the earth so it says in verse 25 nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest in earth of 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 hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation so number one the veil being ripped represents the broken body of Jesus number two the veil being rent represents the beginning of the New Testament the the ushering in of the New Covenant if you want to know exactly when the New Covenant started I can tell you to the second when it started it started the moment that that veil was ripped into it started the moment that Jesus Christ breathed his last breath boom New Covenant right that's the demarcation point because remember the old covenant involved a lot of rituals and worship but here's the thing when you rip the veil and have kind of messes up your worship because you just desecrated your most holy place you can ruin their whole religion if you think about it but that's a later point I'm getting ahead of myself number three look at Hebrews chapter 8 verse 13 and this is just a quick point not only does the rending of the veil represent the beginning of the New Testament but it also represents the end of the Old Testament or you could call it the beginning of the end of the Old Testament it's when the Old Testament begins to expire it begins to have a clock ticking because it's going out of style okay look what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 8 verse 13 and that he saith a new covenant he has made the first old now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away now this probably won't be a shock to you but Jews don't call it the Old Testament they don't talk about the Old Testament reading the Old Testament saying the Old Testament because here's the thing you know why it's the Old Testament because there's a New Testament and here's the thing this is where a lot of people miss it though at the end of verse 13 there it says that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away what is what is decaying and waxing old that's ready to vanish away the Old Covenant okay and then he saith a new covenant he had made the first old now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away now it's easy to pinpoint the beginning of the New Covenant isn't it the death of the testator now the New Testament is in force that's very easy to pinpoint it's very easy to pinpoint the beginning of the Old Covenant because the beginning of the Old Covenant is when Moses kills the animals and sprinkles blood on the people and says this is the blood of the Covenant which God has enjoined unto you but what about the end of the Old Testament the end of the Old Testament now this is a little bit harder to be dogmatic about or to pinpoint I'm going to tell you what I believe and I think that there could be valid differences of opinion here I think the beginning of the Old Testament the New Testament are crystal clear but I think people could have different opinions on this next part but I'll tell you what I believe about the end of the Old Covenant is that when the book of Hebrews is being written it's not quite fully gone yet because what is Hebrew saying that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away so he didn't say the Old Covenant has already vanished away he said it's ready to vanish away it's about to vanish away and by instituting the New Covenant he makes the first old and like I said it kind of it kind of sets an expiration date on it it begins to die now here's I think the best way to illustrate this if you work in construction you're very familiar with this idea of something being grandfathered in who knows what I'm talking about being grandfathered in right so what this idea is that let's say there's a new building code that comes out in 2022 and it requires a bunch of new safety precautions that had never existed in the past you know do we have to just update every building in Phoenix all of a sudden and just you know and just change everything and you know let's say all the sprinklers are say you know these sprinklers look like they're only like what eight feet apart wow that's crazy but anyway yeah they're pretty close together right you know what what if what if the law came out and said you know hey they used to need to be eight feet in that particular facility now they need to be seven it's like all right rip it all out and do it again no because your grandfathered in so when a new building code comes out only buildings that are built after that have to be on the new program you can still be on the old program so let's say you have a house that's built in 1975 it's not necessarily going to be up to the codes of 2021 but there are still rules that apply to that house here's what they'll do they'll actually pull out the code book that was in force and say well this was code in 1975 and so that's what you're being judged on you're being judged on the code from back then because your grandfathered in under the old code so be understand that so I believe that there's a transition period where the new covenants immediately in force but that the old covenant is still there people are kind of being given a chance to kind of get on the new program and so they're kind of grandfathered in for a little while I think that's kind of a good way to think of it is that people are grandfathered in you know as you know the word is getting out about the New Testament and things are being written so in my opinion I would say that the you know that I would put an end to the Old Testament I would say it's probably the destruction of the temple in 70 AD you know it's it's sort of like the ripping the veil is God basically showing like I'm done with this but then basically the nation of Israel actually really is wiped out in 70 AD and then it's completely annihilated in 135 AD but I would say 70 AD is if I had to put a date on it I would say 70 AD is probably when you know the old covenants just done because God has just completely punished Israel and just they're not his people and they're completely you know destroyed and wiped out by the Romans so that that's what I would say about the end of the old covenant but I think it's pretty clear that whenever Hebrews is being written it's not quite gone yet but it's about to be gone and of course Hebrews is written before 70 AD so it makes perfect sense you know Hebrews is probably written roughly you know around 10 years before that or maybe even less and so it's written right around the time before the temples destroyed in 70 AD but right away the New Testaments enforced so here's the thing when Jesus died on the cross there's no animal you never need to offer an animal sacrifice again as far as God's concerned right because you're on the new program you're on the new covenant people are still doing it and whatever especially maybe in you know in remote places people haven't heard about the differences yet and they're still fall in the old covenant laws and everything and people have to learn and be taught so that's why I believe that there's an overlap between the two but we know for sure that the New Testament is initiated with Jesus dying on the cross and that the old covenant begins to have that expiration date on it at that time and eventually it's gone and so let me just say this very clearly in case you didn't get all that let me just say this very clearly the New Testament replaces the Old Testament these two things don't run side-by-side like the dispensationalist teach oh no there's a little overlap for them being grandfathered in but let me tell you something the old covenant has been gone for a long time now a long time it was ready to vanish away back then and it's it's gone so the new covenant replaces or supersedes the old covenant okay that's replacement theology you got it right it supersedes the old covenant it replaces it that's it made the first one old it's it's so but here's thing when we say he made the first old it's ready to vanish away we're not talking about the we're not talking about the part of the Bible called the Old Testament that's never gonna vanish away is it that's not like oh that's waxing old that's decaying no no God's Word doesn't decay the flower fades the grass withers but the Word of our God shall stand forever when it says the Old Testament is ready to vanish away we're talking about the agreement the Covenant the deal okay let me hurry up here and finish if you would flip over to chapter 9 of Hebrews you're right there anyway number 4 the rending of the veil represents the end of the Jews religion the end of the Jewish religion you know Jesus Christ moves on this earth talking to the woman at the well he said salvation's of the Jews okay so the Jews had the right religion in that sense but let me tell you something their religion was messed up when Jesus died on the cross because when Jesus died on the cross I believe that the reason why this earthquake took place that damaged the most holy place in such a way that it ripped the veil in half is to say this is over this worship is over you know this religion is over and so you know was Jesus Jewish he was but I don't like it when people say Jesus is Jewish you know what I mean was Jesus Jewish yeah and in every sense of the word because he was ethnically Jewish and he is practicing the Jewish religion of that time which is not the Jewish religion of today totally different religion Jesus Christ never practiced Judaism okay because you know rabbinical Judaism today's Judaism and all of its branches none of them are anything that Jesus ever believed or practiced or taught or grew up with because that's a new religion that started in 70 AD and there's nothing like it before 70 AD there's nothing like it before 70 AD today's Judaism founded 70 AD okay at the earliest you could really say founded hundreds of years later you know when it's fully you know fleshed out but I would put the founding date of Judaism at 70 AD because think about in 70 AD that's when the temples destroyed that's when the animal sacrifices stop in 70 AD and that's when they have to come up with a whole new religion where it's like well we don't do animal sacrifices we just do prayers and the sacrifices get replaced with prayers and then you start developing the Talmud some of the Talmud was around in Jesus day he was constantly ripping on it and preaching against it but most of the Talmud was developed after 70 AD okay it was finished around 500 AD so don't ever let anybody tell you Oh Judea isms older than Christianity and wrong Christianity founded 33 AD Judaism founded 70 AD so which ones earlier you do the math okay Christianity begins with the death burial and resurrection of Christ on the cross and Judaism starts when their city gets completely wiped out because up until that point they were into the animal sacrifices and and you know what you say well they just can't do the sacrifice because they're not in Jerusalem that's funny because I keep reading the Old Testament there's all kinds of people doing all kinds of sacrifices in places other than Jerusalem even with the blessing of God that's a bunch of baloney my friend it's a bunch of blood God tells them right in the same portion of Scripture where he tells them to build the altar of sacrifice for the tabernacle he tells them they can make altars out of dirt and stone in other locations to sacrifice unto the Lord they don't understand their own law my friend they don't understand their own Torah because last time I checked Elijah's great animal sacrifice that he did with the prophets of Baal was not in Jerusalem and it wasn't in the tabernacle or the temple was it it was on Mount Carmel where he repaired the altar of the Lord that was already there and he piled up rocks and did it and so the last thing I want to point out is that the rending of the veil represents an invitation for us to commune with God the Father so quickly look if you would at Hebrews chapter 9 verse 10 actually look at Hebrews 9 8 it says the Holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while as the first tabernacle was yet standing which was a figure for the time then present so is the tabernacle everlasting eternal we're always gonna do it we're gonna do it in 2021 no it was a figure for that time for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertain to the conscience which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances watch this imposed on them until the time of reformation but Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building neither by the blood of goats and calves by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us flip back if you would to Hebrews 4 Hebrews 4 says the end of the Jewish religion and that's why they had to make a new religion that is basically a reaction to God's judgment you know God sent them Jesus Christ think about this God sent Jesus Christ under the Jews right he offered something many of them received him most of them didn't the ones who didn't receive him were judged by God they're punished by God where God sent the Romans to and the Bible is clear that God was the one who sent them they were fulfilling God's will you know he sent them as an evil messenger to fulfill his wrath on them and the Romans came and by the way when the Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD and and just killed so many people and everything if you actually study the history about the two you know Roman Jewish wars in 70 AD and 135 AD you know you'll find that literally thousands of Jews were crucified literally thousands of Jews were crucified boy what goes around comes around doesn't it you know God punished them God poured out his wrath on them and allowed them to be just completely wiped out by the Romans many of them literally crucified in a poetic justice and here's the thing what is Judaism what is the modern religion of Judaism it's basically the stubbornness that rejects Jesus Christ when he's right in front of your face doing all these miracles preaching all these amazing sermons the power of God the Spirit of God everything's pointing to you that this is the Messiah you reject him then God rips your veil in half breaks your altar when God sits there and and destroys your entire city destroys the temple burns it all to the ground and you're just like no I'm still right I'm still God's chosen people I'm still waiting for the Messiah I'm still blessed by God that's Judaism in a nutshell for you it's basically just a stubborn rejection of Christ I mean can you imagine being Jewish and I'm talking about religiously Jewish 2021 really and you're still waiting for the Messiah and you say well you're so away for the second coming of Christ yeah but here's the thing the second coming of Christ is something where God said hey it's gonna take a long time because he said a days like a thousand years a thousand years like a day you know the Bible already gives us many indications in the New Testament that the second coming of Christ is not going to come for at least a thousand years that it could be thousands of years that it could be way off in the future but the difference with the Old Testament Jews waiting for the Messiah is that there are all these things about the Messiah that are time-sensitive and it's a whole nother sermon to develop this but the Messiah had to come during the Roman Empire in order to fulfill the book of Daniel well how many empires have we had since then it's over that ship has already sailed okay also you know the the scepter was not going to depart from Judah until the Messiah came well the scepter departed from Judah a long time ago you see what I mean there all these things where the Messiah was coming in a certain time a certain predicted time that's why the wise men show up and they're looking for him Simeon's looking for him and other prophetess is looking for everybody and here's the thing even if you talk to a non-christian historian even if you talk to a Jewish historian here's what they'll tell you oh man the first century AD was like a Messiah mania everybody's looking for the Messiah that's what they'll tell you talk to any Jewish historian and they'll say yeah first century AD man everybody was looking for the Messiah there's all these false messiahs but you know before and after Jesus especially after Jesus there are all these other guys claiming to be the Messiah claiming to be the Messiah it's like a Messiah mania where everybody's waiting for them but you know why because they're like okay these are the predictions these are the prophecies it has to happen in this amount of time in this time frame here we go where is it right everybody knew that it had to happen a certain time and guess what Jesus showed up right on time and Jesus fulfilled everything and he did it wasn't what they wanted it wasn't what they wanted to hear it wasn't the kind of Messiah they wanted but he showed up and fulfilled everything okay but in 2021 it's too late to fulfill that stuff because it's all different now does everybody see what I'm saying but it's the stubbornness thousands of years later of saying I want the Bible I want the 39 books of the Tanakh but minus Jesus give me Genesis minus hold the Jesus well let me tell you something Genesis makes no sense without Jesus it really doesn't I could point out for you 20 things in Genesis that make no sense without Jesus but with Jesus they make perfect sense with Jesus everything makes sense everything red blue purple scarlet what does that mean if you're a Jew Oh pretty pretty colors if you're a Christian everything has a much deeper meaning doesn't it hey let's go talk to the Jews and get a deeper meaning on the Word of God really because that's gonna be about as deep as a frisbee okay whereas Christianity has the real depth the deep thing in fact that's our memory verse this week right I should try to tie in every week the memory verse because I accidentally tied it in last week and now I'm gonna tie it in right now the spirit search with all things ye the deep things of God you know you're gonna find the deep things Holy Spirit not Judaism not the Jews okay and the last thing I want to show you verse 19 of chapter 10 having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest 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 sorry I had you turn to Hebrews 4 didn't I go back there go back where I told you to go sorry about that that was my mistake Hebrews 4 14 seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our profession for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the filling of our infirmities but was an all points tempted like as we are yet without sin let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need man remember in the Old Testament it's like you've got the courtyard and then you've got the tabernacle and then you've got the holy place and then you've got the mostly place it's like these layers of clearance it's like you're trying to get into some super tough military base or something and you got to go through all these clearance checks and layers of clearance and it's like these concentric circles of holiness where you get to the most holy place you know everybody can can come here and then it's just the Levites and then it's just the priest and then it's just one guy once a year the most holy place right super inaccessible super holy one guy and if he messes it up he dies he does it wrong he dies one guy once a year has to be perfect you know it you know he's on that keypad putting in the electronic code if he puts in the code wrong he dies all right he's got to do it perfect but think about the New Testament how different this is in the New Testament you could literally be you could literally be don't miss this you could literally be the worst Christian on the planet and you can waltz right into that most holy place literally I mean that's pretty amazing I mean physically I mean think about it in the Old Testament the the high priest he had to wash and and you know fresh clothes certain outfit certain rituals sacrifice the animal if he messes up he dies it's got to be perfect right he's got to do it right we and the old in the New Testament literally you could be like Pigpen on Charlie Brown and walk into that into that holy place in that most holy place you know and here's the thing I'm not I'm not saying that you should I'm not saying that you should be dirty physically and you dead sure shouldn't be dirty spiritually amen I sure hope that the worst Christian in the whole planet is in this auditorium I hope not you know but who knows right I sure hope not but but hopefully he's far away from us right but but here's the thing you say why bring that up pastor Anderson this is why because I want you to realize and I know you're not the worst Christian ever I'm not the worst Christian ever that's not what we're saying I want you to realize that no matter who you are if you just got saved yesterday or if you've been saved for 20 years if you're right with God serving God loving God or maybe you're backslidden you know maybe you're super backslidden and you kind of just dragged yourself in here today and you're just kind of like I don't even know why I'm here I'm so backslidden I don't even want to be here I you know I'm thinking about just giving up on the Christian life because I'm such a failure and I've got so much sin in my life and I've screwed up so many times but you know what isn't it a blessing that the door is open for you to to come boldly into the throne of grace and to find grace to help in the time of need to obtain mercy you know no matter how far from God you get you can always just drop to your knees and pray to the Lord and you're his child and he's there to hear you and you have access through Jesus into that most holy place think about that through Jesus and Jesus is what Jesus though is the ripped curtain the ripped veil right Jesus is this is this is this gap he's this opening right he's this entrance not a wall but an entrance that says hey no man comes to the Father but by me but guess what through him though you can come to the Father all day long and so you can get on your knees and pray in Jesus name amen and boom you have an audience not with the Pope not an audience with with Joe Biden you have an audience with Almighty God and by the way you know it's not even Jesus makes us clear too it's not like you have to pray to Jesus and then he'll ask the Father for you no no he says he says no no you ask the Father in my name he says in that day you shall ask me nothing you can go straight to the top God the Father and I realize that Jesus Christ is co-equal with God and that Jesus Christ is co-eternal co-equal and deity but here's the thing you can go to God the Father himself even the Father through Jesus and that's pretty amazing the creator of the universe whom no man has ever seen at any time you can actually communicate with directly with God the Father and Jesus said it's not that I'm gonna pray the Father you know for you he said no you can go straight to the Father yourself in that day you shall ask me nothing you ask him and you'll receive that's pretty amazing that's a blessing and so you know you might read you might have read over this in your Bible about the veil being ripped in half but man it's important it's significant Jesus Christ body being broken for us bloody bruised battered and broken and opening up a way for us to just march right into that holy place salvation of course only comes through Jesus but communion with the Father also only comes through Jesus and so yeah we you know we we've been saved I mean you know I mean there may be people here that are not saved today but the vast majority of us of course have been saved what does Jesus do for us right now well you know what he's he's still there opening that way for communion with the Father what spires never prayer father we thank you so much for your word Lord and and and for these great promises that you've given us how we can just boldly come into the throne room of glory and that we can just boldly come in and and get mercy and get grace Lord thank you for the privilege the the incredible privilege to have an audience with you Lord and we thank you so much for obviously your unspeakable gift Lord and and and the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin his death his burial and resurrection that cleanses us from sin and frees us from sin and and Lord thank you so much for caring about us and loving us and hearing us and and that the hairs of our head are numbered Lord help us to take advantage of this privilege every day and help us to never even let a single day go by without entering into the most holy place with you and in Jesus name we pray amen