THREE HOURS OF DARKNESS
By-Evangelist Gary Huckaby D.D.
[Today’s text]
Matthew 27:45-53
"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto 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 straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, 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 in 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."
It must have been a great day;
-When God stood above the elliptic of the earth and cried; "Let there be Light!" And light came forth out of the darkness. That must have been a great day.
-When God bent over that lump of clay in the garden, and into that lump of clay, God breathed in it "the breath of life", and man became a living soul. That must have been a great day!
-When God flung from His flaming fingers, the stars, and set them in there orbits throughout the universe. That must have been a great day.
-When He raised the mountains, and coursed the rivers to the sea. That must have been a great day.
It must have been a great day when;
Moses walked with God, for Moses was so close to God that when he came down from the mountain, his face shown with the Glory of God. That must have been a great day.
-When Jeremiah lived; Jeremiah was a preacher of righteousness, who often cried while preaching to the nation of Israel, Oh, that must have been a great day!
-When Ezekiel lived, and prophesied of Israel in his vision of the "valley of dry bones." That must have been a great day!
It must have been a great day;-
When Christ was Born! And, When the shepherds in the fields saw and heard the angels proclaiming the birth of the Savior. That must have been a great day.
-When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan. That must have been a great day.
-When Jesus walked on the waters, coming to meet with His disciples in the ship. That must have been a great day.
It must have been a great day when;
-Christ stilled the stormy waters of the sea; That must have been a great day.
-When Lazuras was raised from the dead by our Lord, after being in the tomb for four days. That must have been a great day.
Yes, of the Greatest Battles ever fought, of the greatest Pictures ever painted; the greatest Word ever spoken, the greatest Books ever written, the greatest Songs ever sung, or the greatest Acts ever committed.
WE are now, going to read of the GREATEST of them all!
Matthew 27:45-52,-"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli-Eli,lamasabachthani? 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 straightway 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 in 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.
THE EVENTS
Started a week before this.
-Jesus came riding in on a donkey, and the people cried Hosanna to the Hightest.
-Jesus and His disciples go to the upper room, with His disciples.
-Jesus and His disciples go to Gethsemane. - When Judas betrays Christ at the garden. Oh how I would like to go to;-see the stable where He was born. -See the carpenter shop where He worked, to hear the beautiful sounds of the hammer and the saw. A labor of love. -To see the upper room.- To see Calvary where His blood was shed. -To see the garden where He prayed, "Let this cup pass from me." Why is He praying like that? Because He knows He is about to come under Gods wrath, and only He can understand it. In the garden, Christ wins the Greatest Battle ever won. Bull-run fades, Iwo-Jima fades, all others fade from view.
The events from the garden to the crucifixion, the sufferings, the beatings, the mockeries, the shame, placed upon Him there. And then they strip Him naked, platted a crown of thorns on His head, put a purple robe upon His body, and give Him a cross to bear, all the way to Calvary. They nail His hands and His feet to that cross and drop it into a hole lifting Him above the earth for all there to see. Here He hangs for six hours, three hours were in daylight, and three hours in total darkness,
If you want to see the blackness of the human heart go to Calvary! All kinds of wickedness was poured upon Christ there. From 9:00 am. until 12:00 noon, Christ hangs there openly before men. During the three hours of light, men curse Him. But then, the earth quakes, the rocks break, the wind blows, then DARKNESS comes. From 12:00 noon until 3:00 PM. there is darkness. I once thought that this could have been an eclipse, or a terrible storm. But no, I was wrong in that thinking, for this was no ordinary darkness.
It was the darkness of HELL!
Outer Darkness!
In Matthew 8:12,-"And the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out, INTO OUTER DARKNESS: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This was a darkness that could be felt literally. A darkness such as was in Egypt in Exodus 10:21,-"And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt." Demons danced in that darkness! No one could go there but Jesus. WHY? The reason is that it is a special day. The Son of God is on TRIAL! Trial before the Courts of, The world, the charge was Treason!The penalty was DEATH! On trial before the court of GOD,the charge was Blasphemy, the penalty was DEATH! On trial before the courts of Hell. The charge was SIN! The penalty was, SEPARATION FROM GOD FOREVER!
The Elements of That Darkness.
Those that enter in must, Be FORSAKEN of GOD! Was He? Listen to His cry, "ELI, ELI LAMA SABACHTHANI," "MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?"
How did He do it? I don’t know, I could not, if it were one of my children I could not stand by and allow it to happen!
Next, Those that enter in must SUFFER the Penal Sanctions of the LAW. That means he must suffer and die for the law. If you break one law, you have broken them all.
Again, Whosoever enters in must SUFFER HELL!
He did, for three hours! He suffered our hell. Love bound Him to that cross. Not the nails; "Love bound Him there!" And because of this Jesus opened a new and living way. Then, the vail of the Temple was torn in two. That vail was approximately six inches thick, hand woven.
While on that cross, Jesus cried eight times. Seven intelligible cries, and one unintelligible cry. Look at verse 50 again.
"Jesus when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost."
He cried-In the original Greek text it is, "Boao" A scream! Why, you say? Because He came under the power of that old serpent," The devil." For all the lost souls, who would have had to, had He not done it for us!
Once there was a man and his wife traveling through the desert in Arizona. The were separated for a moment when the husband had to check one of the tires on the car. She had gotten out of the car to pick a beautiful desert flower. As the husbands was stooped down looking at the tire, he heard an awful scream, jumping up, he ran to the sound of his wives screams, to find her frozen stiff, looking into the eyes of a snake! After killing the snake he ask her why didn’t she just walk away, To which she replied, When I looked into its cold eyes, all I could do was scream! Everyone must come under the power of GOD or Satan! There are no fence straddle’s here. But Satan couldn’t keep Jesus;" Thanks be to God forever!"
He couldn’t keep Him, for Jesus came to set us free from sin and the devils power. Have you been set free from Satan’s power today? Do you know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior? Please come to Him for Salvation right now. Pray, Lord Jesus, I believe you died for me, I repent of my sins, and ask you to come into my heart and save me forever. Amen If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, go and tell someone about Him right now.
For help to grow in Christ write to us at
HUCKABY’S EVANGELISM
P.O.Box 1011
Pine Mountain, GA. 31822
glhuck@earthlink.net
For every heart there is a rest,
a peace that’s given, though great be the test.
God sent His Son, to set the soul free,
giving eternal life to those who receive.
There is Mercy and Pardon,
to the searching soul,
Just call on His name, It’s Jesus the Lord.
He promised to answer,
If you’ll only pray,
so ask for Salvation
Oh do it today.
by-G.L.H.
