Sermon Central
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Three Hours Of Darkness
Contributed by Gary Huckaby on Feb 22, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: Do you know why there were three hours of darkness while Jesus was on the cross? Do you know what took place during those three dark hours? Find out in this message.
THREE HOURS OF DARKNESS
By-Evangelist Gary Huckaby D.D.
[Today’s text]
"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.
