Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. This morning, I'd like for us
to look at the last few verses of John chapter 19. This chapter records the crucifixion
and the death and the burial of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
38 says, and after this, after this, after our Lord was tried, after
he was convicted, after he was beaten, and after he was crucified, after our Lord said, it is finished, after he gave up the ghost, after
a soldier ran a spear into his side, after blood and water poured
out from him, After the scripture was fulfilled,
that a bone of him shall not be broken. After another scripture
was fulfilled, they shall look on him whom they pierced. Verse 38 says, and after this,
Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear
of the Jews, Besought Pilate that he might take away the body
of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. He
came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus. Our God chose this particular
man to be the one who would carry out the burial of our Lord. And what a calling that was.
What an honor to be called of God to handle Christ crucified. This man was from a place called
Arimathea. He was a Jew, but he was a believer. Verse 38 says, after this, Joseph
of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, He was a follower of
the Lord Jesus Christ, a man who loved the Lord his God. And the other gospels tell us
a little bit more about this man. If you'll look with me in
Matthew chapter 27, Matthew 27 verse 57 says, when
the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea named
Joseph. who also himself was Jesus's
disciple, he went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. Then
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 of the
rock, and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher
and departed. Joseph was a rich man. He had
to be. Isaiah prophesied that our Lord
would make his grave with the wicked. So he hung between two
thieves. And Isaiah prophesied that our
Lord would make his grave with the rich in his death. So in
fulfillment of that, God made this man Joseph to be a rich
man. Now if you'll look with me at Mark chapter 15, Mark's
account of this says in verse 42, now when the even was come,
because it was the preparation, that is the day before the Sabbath,
Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor, which also waited
for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly unto Pilate,
and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marveled if he were
already dead, and called unto him the centurion. He asked him
whether he had been any while dead, and when he knew it of
the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine
linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and
laid him in a sepulcher, which was hewn out of the rock, and
rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulcher. And Mary Magdalene,
and Mary the mother of Josie, beheld where he was laid." Mark
tells us that Joseph was an honorable man. He was a counselor. which means he was a member of
the Sanhedrin. He was a Jewish religious leader,
a counselor of the Jews religion. But Luke tells us that Joseph
was a repentant man. God caused him to repent of everything
he believed and everything he taught in that Jewish council. Luke 23 verse 50 says, and behold,
there was a man named Joseph, a counselor, and he was a good
man and a just, The same had not consented to the counsel
and deed of them, the other Pharisees, the other rulers. He was of Arimathea,
a city of the Jews, who also himself waited for the kingdom
of God. This man went unto Pilate and
begged the body of Jesus, and he took it down and wrapped it
in linen and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone wherein
never man before was laid. He was in false religion but
he would not stand with them. God gave this man Joseph a changed
mind and he gave him a changed heart. That's called repentance.
a changed mind and a changed heart about who God is, about
what salvation is. But our text tells us back in
John 19 that this man was a weak, frail sinner just like you and
me. Back in John 19, verse 38 says,
and after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but
secretly for fear of the Jews." I'm so glad that our Lord chose
to include that detail about Joseph. I'm so glad our Lord
chose to tell us that. Joseph was just a sinner, just
like you and me. He was afraid He was a disciple,
he truly was, but secretly for fear of the Jews. Now I wanna be a bold and a committed
servant of Christ, I truly do. I want to be a bold, committed
servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I'll tell you this, if I'm
going to be, my God is gonna have to give me the grace and
the ability to be. The reason is because there are
so many fears inside this flesh. I have so many fears in my flesh. There is so much weakness in
my flesh. A man named John Newton wrote
a song, he wrote a poem. I'm gonna read this and tell
me if you can relate to this. Tell me if this describes you.
He wrote, "'Tis a point I long to know. "'Oft it causes anxious
thought. "'Do I love the Lord or no? "'Am I His or am I not? "'If I love, why am I thus? "'If I love Him, why am I the
way I am?' Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure can
they be worse who have never heard His name. Could my heart
so hard remain? Prayer a task and burden prove? Every trifle give me pain if
I knew a Savior's love. When I turn my eyes within, all
is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin. Can I deem myself a child? If
I pray or hear or read, sin is mixed with all I do. You who
love the Lord indeed, tell me, is it thus with you? Yet I mourn
my stubborn will, find my sin a grief and thrall. Should I grieve at what I feel
if I did not love at all? Could I joy his saints to meet
Choose the ways I once abhorred. Find at times the promise sweet
if I did not love the Lord. Lord, decide this doubtful case. Thou who art the people's son,
since upon thy work of grace, if indeed it be begun, let me
love thee more and more. If I love at all, I pray. If I have not loved before, help
me to begin today. Help me to begin today. Can you
relate to that? Can you relate to that like I
can? Do you feel the same thing inside
that John Newton felt? If you can, Here's the promise
of our God to all of us weak and fearful sinners. This is
what he said. My grace is irresistible. It's irresistible. When I send
grace, it cannot be resisted. And in my time, in my power,
I will quicken you I will cause you to come to me. You that cannot come, you that
will not come, you that has no desire to come, you will come. I'll cause you to come. I'll
cause you to seek the Lord. You will be willing in the day
of my power. Even though Joseph was a secret
disciple for fear of the Jews, when the time came, God still
gave him the courage and the ability to go to Pilate and claim
the one thing needful. And every single child of God,
when that line is drawn in the sand, what think ye of Christ? What is eternal life? When a choice has to be made,
and when a side has to be taken, every single child of God will
claim the body. He'll claim the bloody, broken
body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every single child of God. Isn't
that comforting? Every single child of God. And they won't do it because
of their own inner strength. It'll be because of God's grace
to them. It's because he which hath begun
a good work in us, he will finish it. He will perform it. He said, I am found of them that
sought me not. Why did He say that? It's because I didn't seek Him.
He drew me. He drew me by putting a heart
in me to lay hold on Christ. to beg for the body, to crave
the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ. He does that for every
single child of God. Every single child of God. Now let's look at Nicodemus.
We just saw this man Joseph. Let's look at Nicodemus. Verse
39 says, and there came also Nicodemus, which came at the
first to Jesus by night. He came by night. Look with me
at John chapter 3. This is when Nicodemus came to
the Lord. John chapter 3 verse 1 says,
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews. The same came to Jesus by night
and said unto him, Rabbi, We know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto
him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him,
how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh and whither it goeth, so is every one that is born
of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, How can these things be? How can these things be? Nicodemus
was an ignorant, scared, false preacher. That's what he was. He was an ignorant, scared, false
preacher, who was more afraid of his false preacher brethren
than he was God Almighty. But Christ preached the gospel
to him. Christ preached the gospel to that poor man. Christ began
the work in him. Everything that our Lord said
in the next 12 verses was to Nicodemus. In verse 14, he said,
and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God
sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him
is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. For every one that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God. That's what the Lord told this
man Nicodemus. He preached the truth to him. He opened his eyes to the foolishness
of false religion and he preached the truth to him. He preached
the gospel to him. The Lord began a work in this
man. He planted a seed in this man. And the Spirit of God caused
that seed to grow. Over in chapter seven, the Pharisees
are wanting to condemn the Lord. And in chapter seven, verse 50,
Nicodemus saith unto them, he that came to Jesus by night being
one of them, doth our law judge any man before it hear him and
know what he doeth? They answered and said unto him,
art thou also of Galilee? Whose side are you on? That's
what they said to Nicodemus. They wanted to condemn the Lord
and Nicodemus said, do we condemn a man before we hear him? And
they said, whose side are you on? Whom seek ye? In our text we see in the end it
was the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who he sought. That's
whose side he was on. They probably said to him, now
you know Nicodemus. If you go after him, you can't
be one of us anymore. You can't be on the board of
the Sanhedrin. When you lay claim to him, you're denying us. Back in John 19, verse 39 says,
and there came also Nicodemus. Isn't that precious? There came
also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night
and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 100 pound weight.
Then took they the body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes
with the spices as the manner of the Jews is to bury. To these two men, this body was
precious. It was precious. They wrapped it in the finest
linen. They covered it in the sweetest
spices. Not only was this body a sweet
smelling savor to God, this body was a sweet smelling savor to
them. And here's why. Here is the glory
of the cross. Right here is the gospel of salvation. Verse 41 says, now in the place
where he was crucified, there was a garden. and in the garden
a new sepulcher wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they
Jesus. Therefore, because of the Jews'
preparation day, for the sepulcher was nigh at hand. Now I want
us to right here see substitution for a sinner. Substitution for
sinners. I want us to see substitution
like we've never seen it before. This right here is what believers
confess. It's the foundation of our worship. It's what we give God thanks
for. Turn back with me one more time
to Matthew 27. In Matthew 27 verse 57 says,
When the even 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. Then 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. Joseph knew he was a sinner. He knew he was. Joseph knew that
he had to die. He dug his own grave. But when
Joseph saw Christ, when he saw him high and lifted up, hanging
on that cross, wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading, sinners
who were blind and unheeding, this is what Joseph saw. He was
dying for me. He was dying for me. That's what
we see in Christ crucified. He was dying for me. And Joseph
said, I must have him. I must have him. I need for him to lay in my tomb. That's what I need. I'm gonna
tell you, that's what I need. That's what you need. We don't just need for Christ
to lay in a tomb. Well, he was crucified and he
died and he was buried. We don't just need for Christ
to lay in a tomb. We need him to lay in our tomb.
I need him to lay in my tomb. He must lay in my tomb, the one
that I dug. the one that was prepared for
my sin. If he does not lay there for
me, as me, then I'm gonna have to lay there myself. What does God reveal to the heart
of a sinner when he finally sees Christ crucified? When he truly
sees Christ crucified, what does God reveal to a man who sees
that? Here's what it is. That man or
that woman sees, this is my substitute. This is the one who laid in my
tomb. This is the one who took my place. That was my cross, that was my
death, that was my wrath, and he took it for me. He took it for me. That's my
substitute. Every child of God says the exact
same thing. He laid in my tomb for me. He did that for me. And because of that, He is precious
to me. He's so precious to us, isn't
He? Is He not the most precious thing
a sinner could ever lay hold of? Is that broken body, that bloody
broken body, not the most precious thing? Not the most glorious
thing a sinner could ever possess? A sinner could ever lay hold
of? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
was a sweet smelling savor to God. He was a sweet smelling savor
to us. because he was to God, because God was satisfied with
him. Oh, he's a sweet smelling savor
to us, isn't he? His precious body saw no corruption,
it was perfect. A sinless man died for his people. A sinless man laid down his life
willingly gave himself for his own people. And that body never
saw one ounce of corruption. That body never decayed. There
was no stench in that grave. And everything about his death
to a sinner in need is a sweet-smelling savor. Everything about it. Oh,
we give thanks, don't we? We give thanks. That's all that
a sinner can do. And we wouldn't dare try to add
anything to this precious death, would we? We wouldn't dare take
anything from His precious death. All we can do is give thanks. All we can do is thank God for
everything that Christ accomplished for us in His death. May God
cause each one of us to crave and to claim the broken and bloody
body of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.