Beyond the Veil

Am I on?

Am I on?

Okay.

Not that used to this, so uh you've got your scripture open to Mark 15, I trust.

Um I will tell you this uh of all the uh events across the church calendar, Easter is by far my favorite.

It is especially the Lenten season when it's such a wonderful time to take a special time to reflect on the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It could not be better.

And so I was very intrigued recently when in the Grand Forks Herald there was a short column entitled Seeing Beyond Lent.

Maybe you saw that, a local church leader was quoted as saying that Lent is about the larger community and the world, about looking beyond ourselves.

That Lent is about the larger, excuse me, other, about glorifying God by positively impacting the world around us.

She was also quoted as saying that most college students today see Christianity as just one of many world religions.

It was intriguing to me that not once in that article was the name Jesus Christ mentioned.

And the article was titled Seeing Beyond Lent.

We can do better.

This morning we're going to take a look at history.

We're going to look back at a moment in real history where the God of the universe demonstrated his love for us.

It's an historical event that we can cling to, we can sink our teeth into, and we can claim as hard evidence for our salvation.

If you've studied Mark's gospel, you may know that it's called the gospel of expediency, and there's a reason for that.

Mark doesn't waste any words, he moves quickly from incident to incident.

He's very simple.

It's kind of a just the facts, ma'am, gospel.

And although Lowell has already read the verses, I'm going to read them again.

And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.

Mark describes his death in painful simplicity.

And then he adds one comment.

He says, and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

If you're of my generation, you probably remember that verse is being read, and the veil in the temple was rent in twain.

How many?

That sounds better.

Means the same thing.

You know, at the moment when Jesus Christ died, several phenomena happened.

There was an earthquake, rocks were split, tombs were opened, darkness covered the earth, and Old Testament saints came out of those tombs and walked around the city of Jerusalem.

Can you imagine?

But of all those things being as spectacular as they were, I believe the rending of the veil was by far the most significant.

And to understand this veil a bit, we have to go to the Old Testament.

You may want to turn to Exodus chapter 19.

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

When we read the opening verses of Exodus 19, we see that the nation of Israel is three months passing the crossing of the Red Sea and escaping from Egypt under God's power.

They're camped at the base of Mount Sinai, and God speaks to Moses, telling him that in three days he would descend to the mountain and speak to the people.

I want to go into some degree of detail about this veil.

It is so fascinating, but I will tell you this.

I'm going to leave a lot out too.

I'll give you just a peek into the tent as to what happens when you agree to fill this pulpit.

You get an email from Pastor Severson.

He's very professional.

There are eight points.

He is more than helpful.

The first point was remember, most sermons last 30 minutes.

I called Pat and I said, Come on, I've been going to this church for 40 years.

I've never heard a sermon finished within 30 minutes.

It doesn't happen here.

So I agreed to try to do the best I can, but you're going to be stuck with me for just a little bit more than 30.

But because of that, we're going to be like a flat rock that just skips across the water of a few Old Testament passages.

We're going to see some things that God, first of all, revealed about Himself, and then some things that God provided for us.

Exodus 19.

We're three months past getting out of Egypt, and Moses says to the or the Lord says to Moses in verse 11, and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

And you shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it.

Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death.

That's pretty tough stuff.

But God wasn't being unreasonable.

He was being like a parent with a young child, setting a boundary so that young child could not put his hand on a hot burning stove.

God was protecting his own people from himself.

And here at Mount Sinai, in real history, God was going to reveal more of himself, in particular, his burning holiness.

In three days, he was going to descend to that mountain and he was going to audibly state the essentials of his will in ten commands.

He'd never done this before.

And this revelation was going to show that an infinite gulf separates our holy God from sinful people, and that without his mercy and without his grace, no unprotected sinful human being can stand in his presence without being consumed.

The people were going to learn something about God's holiness, and so for their protection, God set a boundary, and Moses complied.

And as promised, three days later, God descended into the mountain in fire and smoke and thunder.

The people drew up to the boundary, and God audibly revealed his will in Ten Commands.

The experience was so spectacular, so terrifying, that the people drew back from the boundary, trembling.

And if you turn to verse 18 in chapter 20, you will see what the people said.

And all the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance.

Then they said to Moses, Speak to us yourself, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we die.

It was a terrifying thing for unprotected, sinful human beings to encounter the immediate presence of our holy God.

By the time we get to Exodus 32, Moses has gone up into the mountain, and he's received a whole bunch of commands, some of which are in the intervening chapters.

He also received the ten commands written by God, engraved by God on tablets of stone.

He was gone 40 days, as we know.

And the people in the camp at the base of the mountain, as we know, grew impatient and they broke out into an idolatrous orgy in front of a golden calf.

God's anger burned.

And if you look at verse 10, excuse me, yes, verse 10 in Exodus 32, God says to Moses, Now let me alone that my anger may burn against them, and that I may destroy them, that I'll make of you a great nation.

But you know what Moses did?

He pleaded with God to spare the nation.

So God said, Okay, go down and see for yourself.

And when Moses went down that mountain, we know what he did.

He took the tablets of stone and anger and shattered them on the rocks.

He went down into the camp and he called for those that were still faithful to him to come forward.

The tribe of Levi responded, and Moses told them to draw their swords, and three thousand Israelites died that day.

A chapter later, in Exodus 33, we see that God had spared the nation.

He then commanded Moses that he should take this people and lead them to the promised land promised to Abraham.

But if you look at verse 3 in chapter 33, God also said this: go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, for I will not go up with you.

I will not go in your midst because you are an obstinate people, lest I destroy you on the way.

Ever find yourself between a rock and a hard place in a no-one, no-win situation?

Boy, if ever a man was in one, it was Moses.

He knew that it was absolutely futile to try to lead this people to the promised land without God's presence.

But God had also told him and shown him that if he did go with them, his burning holiness would destroy them along the way.

What was he to do?

Well, he pled with God again.

In a dramatic example of boldness and faith, Moses, I believe, gingerly, took the ball and tossed it back into God's court.

He said, God, please try to find a way to do both.

Look at Exodus 33, verse 15.

Exodus 33:15

Moses has been pleading with God, and he concludes his pleading by saying, If thy presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.

But God was already one step ahead of Moses.

He's usually at least one step ahead of all of us, isn't he?

You see, back on the mountain, God had already commanded Moses to build a tabernacle.

This was a building of sorts that could be constructed and taken down in their travels.

And inside this tabernacle there was a room called the Holy of Holies.

Inside that Holy of Holies would be the Ark of the Covenant, the articles of the faith, so to speak.

And it was there that God would manifest his immediate presence above the Ark on the mercy seat.

But so that his holiness would not consume the people, God also commanded Moses to cover the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies with a thick, thick curtain called the veil.

It's described in great detail.

So God found a way to do both.

In that way he could go with them, he could lead them, be separated from them, and not destroy them.

I want to stop just here and ask a couple questions.

First of all, what has God revealed and what has he provided?

Well, he's revealed something of his holiness, hasn't he?

He in fact is so holy that his presence, his very presence, consumes sin.

He is so holy that he must keep himself separate from his own people.

And what has he revealed?

Or what has he provided?

He's provided a place.

A place called the Holy of Holies, where he could manifest his presence among the people.

But he also provided a veil, a barrier of separation that would protect his own people from himself and his holiness.

Let's dig a little deeper into the veil.

Prior to Mount Sinai, the head of every household was of something of a priest.

But beginning at Mount Sinai, God commissioned the tribe of Levi to take care of the duties of the priesthood, hence the term Levitical priesthood.

Moses' brother Aaron and his sons took on the duties of being priests for the nation.

And God had commanded that an elaborate sacrificial system be instituted and practiced.

There were daily sacrifices that had to be made, but there were also festivals during the year when special sacrifices were made.

The most notable among them was the Day of Atonement, and it involved both the Holy of Holies and the Veil.

Because on the Day of Atonement, the high priest of the nation was to enter behind the veil, carrying the blood of a goat and the remains of a bull offering right into the presence of God, and there he was to make sacrifices for his own sins and for the remaining sins of the people.

And God responded by passing over the sins of the nation for another year.

I don't know that I can prove this, but I've read it many years ago in several sources.

It said that this was such a terrifying experience that the priest actually had a rope tied to his ankle.

You've probably heard this.

So that when he went behind the veil, if he went there unworthily and was happened to be struck dead by God, the operating priests outside the veil could pull him out without endangering themselves.

Again, I don't know if that's true.

I don't find it in Scripture, but it is well recorded in many sources.

Turn forward to Leviticus 16, please.

I know this is a book that we all spend a lot of time in.

Verses 2, 3, and 30.

And the Lord said to Moses, Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die.

For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.

Aaron shall enter the holy place with this, with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

Verse 30.

For it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you.

You shall be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

God had made it very clear that the veil was something to be that that be going behind the veil was not something that was to be done casually.

You just didn't go back there anytime you wanted to.

And it was only the high priest who could enter, and only once a year, only on the Day of Atonement, and only if he was properly prepared.

And since the high priest was to typify purity, if you read back in these passages, the high priest actually took up residence in the tabernacle seven days prior to the Day of Atonement.

And he had to perform his duties perfectly for seven days, or he was to be replaced.

And then on the Day of Atonement, he washed his entire body in a bath for the special occasion.

He put on special garments, took off his shoes, and then I'm going to say, probably gingerly, pass behind the veil.

And God responded by passing over their sins for another year.

This Day of Atonement was a dramatic example, a dramatic provision by the Lord for the nation to remind them of their sin and to pass over their sins for another year.

And of course, we know now that it also foreshadowed the eventual perfect and final sacrifice that God Himself would provide.

Let's ask those two questions again.

What has God revealed and what has he provided?

Well, he's revealed something about the seriousness of sin.

In fact, it's shed blood that is the only possible covering for sin.

He's also made it clear that the blood of bulls and goats don't cut it.

They're not permanent.

These guys had to do this every year.

He's also made it clear that it's he that sets the rules as to how and when sinful human beings can come into his holy presence.

And what's he provided?

Well, he's provided a priesthood, an intermediary, if you will, who he will allow by his mercy and his grace to go past the veil of separation for the sins of the people to be pardoned for another year.

Now it's it's it's really natural for all of us to say, okay, fine, but we're in the 21st century.

Wasn't all of this just symbolic?

This is almost cruel and gross and all of those things.

It's it's it's too earthy.

Well, you know what?

The New Testament would agree with you in some senses.

Paul in Romans 3 says that in the Old Testament, God really didn't forgive sin.

He just passed over sins previously committed in his forbearance.

And in Colossians 2, he says that these festivals, they're just shadows of what's yet to come.

And in Hebrews, we actually read that it is the that the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin.

So yeah, this was symbolic in a very real sense.

And yet I think it's also fair that we ask the question: was it meant to be taken seriously?

Yeah.

The sons of Aaron died because they were careless in their duties.

And if you recall, although it didn't include the veil, if you recall the time when the Israel nation um rescued the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines, what happened?

They came dragging it back on an ox cart, right?

When they had been clearly commanded that the ark was to precede them by a distance, being carried on the shoulders of the priests.

So here comes this ox cart, and it's teetering as it goes across the threshing floor.

What happened to the guy named Uzzah?

He stuck out his hand to try to steady it, and bam, God struck him dead.

This wasn't about salvation.

We may say Uzzah in heaven, I don't know.

But here's what God was doing.

He was saying, don't treat my presence casually.

I am that holy.

So although it was symbolic, for centuries this system was meant to be taken seriously.

The presence of the God of the universe was kept separate from Israel, hidden behind a thick veil.

And God's chosen people dutifully, although not always sincerely, and not always as regularly as they should have, they watched their high priest go behind the veil of separation with the sacrifices, year after year, to atone for their sins and to seek God's mercy again and again and again and again and again.

And the veil, for centuries, at least in a symbolic sense, kept the burning holiness of God separate from his people.

Until.

Excuse me.

Until one afternoon in human history, on a Jewish Passover, on a hill outside of Jerusalem, a man named Jesus, who just happened to be God's incarnate Son.

In pain that wasn't just physical, because he carried also the sins of all mankind for all ages.

This Jesus, as we know, hung on a Roman cross of crucifixion.

And it is recorded in history that he uttered a loud cry and he breathed his last.

And it is recorded in history that at that moment the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom.

The holy of holies, where for fear of death no man dared enter save the high priest once a year.

It was exposed.

It was wide open.

The boundary was gone.

It was wide open for all to see.

And you know what happened?

Nothing.

Nothing.

No one was destroyed.

No one was consumed.

Why?

Well, we know the answer.

Because one specific man, Jesus Christ, had qualified to pass behind that veil.

And he had done so carrying blood.

But unlike his predecessors, Jesus had qualified because of an oath of God.

Jesus wasn't even a Levite, he was from the tribe of Judah.

And unlike the high priests of old, Jesus didn't just typify purity.

He was sinless and pure.

He was and is God.

And unlike the high priests of old, Jesus didn't carry a bull and the blood of a goat.

He brought himself.

He brought his own blood because he was the Lamb of God.

And unlike the high priests of old who passed behind the veil into a symbolic holy of holies, as Hebrews says, made with human hands, which just means a bunch of Israelite carpenters, Jesus passed right into heaven itself to appear in the presence of God the Father.

And finally, unlike the high priests of old, who had to remain standing because they only atoned for the sins of one nation for one year, Jesus, our great high priest, brought one sacrifice for all the sins of all mankind, and he sat down at the right hand of God.

Scriptures record that at that moment the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom.

It had served its purpose.

It's no longer necessary.

And that's why, along with the empty tomb, which has to have preeminence as a historical fact, I believe a close second is the rending of the veil.

It stands as a historical guarantee that the way is now open for us by simple faith in Jesus Christ to enter without fear into the presence of God.

Without fear.

Without fear because of God's great love and his provision of a perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind being punished in the body of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Hebrews says that it's by the grace of God that Jesus Christ tasted death for everyone.

How else could you explain it?

It doesn't make sense.

A new era has begun, and we can enter into the most intimate communion with the Holy God without fear and without further offerings for sin.

Praise God.

Two questions again.

What has God revealed, and what has he provided?

You know what?

The answer to both questions this time is the same.

Jesus Christ.

Because as the incarnate Son of God, Jesus came to reveal God.

He said of himself, He who has seen me has seen the Father.

And when he asked the question, who convinced me of sin?

No man could accuse him because he was sinless himself.

And what did he provide?

Oh, what did he provide?

He provided himself.

His life to be emulated, his body to be broken, his blood to be shed.

He's now given us his spirit.

And we know what he's doing now.

He's getting a place ready for us.

He's busy.

Want to be great to someday.

See him to worship him in his presence and thank him.

I'm sure that most of you know that I took most of this message right out of the book of Hebrews.

I would encourage you during this Easter season, spend some time there, especially chapters 7 through 10.

You will be blessed.

But you know that the writer to Hebrews did not stop at the point we're at today.

You want to turn to Hebrews 10?

He tells us how to apply this today.

Hebrews 10, let's just look at verses 19 through 25, and I'll try to be quick.

Since, therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the veil that is his flesh.

And since we have a high priest, a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who is promised is faithful.

And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our same assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Excuse me.

First of all, in verse 19, the writer is referring to prior verses in the passage, but he's saying, look, Christ's sacrifice is complete.

God's demand that sin be punished has been completely satisfied.

And therefore, he says we can be confident.

We can be bold.

Jesus Christ is who made the provision, and he did it for our benefit.

The God of the universe is ours to boldly approach, to boldly know, to boldly love.

Let's do that.

Second, he says, hold fast to your confession of your hope.

A few verses later, he defines what he means by hope.

We all know the verse in Hebrews 11 that says, hope is the assurance of things not seen, right?

He says, hold fast to that hope.

It's God who promised, it's God who's faithful, it's God who provided the way.

Why should we doubt?

Why shouldn't we hold fast to that?

We have an empty tomb and we have a torn veil as historical evidence to dig our teeth into, to cling to as evidence.

And so therefore we shouldn't be shaken by this talk of other ways to God.

There is no other way.

We all know that there are those who sincerely believe in all sorts of Eastern mysticism, or other groups who believe that we can just qualify by going to church.

I thought Billy Graham took care of that years ago when he said going into a garage doesn't make me a car.

There's still people that believe that.

Or a lot of people think they can just still do the best they can.

And today I think what we deal with more than anything is the liberal theology that has wooed so many people and equivocated.

They say, well, all the religions are the same.

We all worship the same God anyway, right?

So let's just get together in our discussion groups and hold hands and sing kumbaya and sign up for a side street protest against someone telling the truth.

But let's just make sure we're politically correct and that we smile when we should mile and frown when we should frown, and surely God will be pleased.

I beg to differ.

If faith is misplaced, sincerity doesn't matter.

Two plus two will never equal three.

It won't matter how badly I wanted to or how much I care.

If faith is misplaced, sincerity won't matter.

And all of the above things I just mentioned are only going to lead to an eternity outside of Christ and separated from God.

There is only one way to God.

Anybody else remember that?

If in fact Christ is the only way to God, then let's call that A.

That makes every other possible route non-A, and there is nothing in between.

We can't mix and mash and think there's something in between that will work.

He is the only way.

And I think of Pastor Vic teaching us for how many years?

Shoot, just about as long as Israel needed priests, that we need to confront the claims of Christ and with our mind, our emotions, and our will make a decision.

A willful decision.

There's only one way to God, and it is through recognition of personal sin and dependent faith on Jesus and what he did for us in history.

There still is such a thing as real moral guilt before a holy God.

And the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot be reduced to a bunch of flowery language that's an idea or a philosophical concept or a logical necessity that makes us feel good or feel religious.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, they're facts of history.

They happen for a reason.

So we cannot be shaken.

Don't lose hold of the confession of our hope.

And third, he says, let's stimulate each other to love and good deeds, fellowship and encouraging each other.

You know, the scriptures say that we are to maintain the unity of the spirit in a bond of peace.

Did you get that?

Maintain.

Not create, not conjure up, maintain the unity of the faith.

Hebrews says something fascinating when it says that since we share in flesh and blood, and Jesus Christ did the same, he is not ashamed to call us brethren.

Are you kidding me?

He's God.

But Mike, he's your brother.

He's your sister.

You're his sister.

That's unbelievable.

But we know how families work, and it would be best if a family understood that, and we function best when we are encouraging each other and stimulating each other.

One last application.

The veil has a message today also for those who have yet to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Of course it does.

You know, Christ shed blood satisfied God.

The sins and shortcomings of the entire human race have been dealt with.

And the way is wide open.

But Scripture is very clear to also teach that while it is offered freely to all, it is only effective for those who have come to personal faith and trusted Jesus to forgive their sins.

There is no other way available.

If you have not come to that faith in Christ yet, you know it's happening.

God is just passing over your sins in his forbearance.

Use your mind, your emotion, and your will.

Consider the evidence.

Choose wisely.

There's only one way possible.

So I would say this Easter season, let's take time to contemplate the suffering and the death and the resurrection of Jesus.

Take time to think about the veil too.

Consider what the Lord has revealed to us and what he's provided for us.

This is a time for sober, sober contemplation.

But you know what?

It's also a time to just break out in a joyous celebration.

Consider the torn veil.

It's evidence that God provided a way for each of us to be forgiven and to claim a personal, open family relationship with the God of the universe.

There is no other way, but the way is wide open.

Because praise God, Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last, and the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Let's pray.

Father, I just pray that whatever has been said from this pulpit this morning that is faithful, you would help us remember.

And whatever has not, we would quickly forget.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.