David. I think this will be good tonight.
I'm encouraged. I told y'all Sunday on that message
of David and Goliath that Todd Niber had a real good message
on that, on what those five smooth stones were. And you know what
he preached on this evening? David and Goliath. How about
that? I listened to it. It was good.
I thanked him. I texted him. If you want, turn to John 19. I just changed the title of my
message as Mark was reading. There in that text that he read,
it says, and seek ye not what ye shall eat or what ye shall
drink. He's got something added onto that. Neither be ye of doubtful
mind. You know what a doubtful mind
is? A coward. Have you ever met a
coward? I've been one. I've been one. A lot. A lot. I'm going to title
this, A Hope for Cowards. A Hope for Cowards. Now, if I
could find a coward, I'd tell that coward, I want you to look
at some other cowards. This is hopeful. John 19. I looked
this up too. You know how long we've been
in, John? Two years, five months, 13 days. Have we learned anything? God taught us anything? I pray
he has. We've been looking at the burial
of Jacob on Sundays, and this year's the burial of Christ.
But he uses two cowards to do it. These two cowards were used
greatly. They weren't unsuccessful. They
weren't dumb. They were just cowards. To the
world, they were great men. They were cowards. I know, I've
seen my cowardice. John 19 verse 38, 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. And he came therefore
and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus,
which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture
of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound. Then took they the body
of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with spices, as the manner
of the Jews is to bury. 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. It was the day before the
Sabbath and the Passover was there. For the sepulcher was
nigh at hand. It was close. I had some questions
as I read this. So many things popped out, but
I gotta leave some in and I gotta leave some things out. I can't
cover everything. We'd be here for nine hours. Who were these
two men? What did they do? Why did they
do it? What does this show us? Who gets
the glory for it? And then finally, and this is
why I ended this on purpose, my last question, where did this
take place? Now that's odd, it coming after
who gets the glory for it, isn't it? He gets glory where it took
place too. Magnificent. Who were these two
men? Turn over to Matthew 27. The
first one mentions Joseph of Arimathea. He was a rich man.
That's who he was. Matthew 27 verse 57. It says,
And when evening was come, there was a rich man of Arimathea named
Joseph, who also himself was Jesus's disciple. He went to
Pilate and begged. He 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. This was his tomb. It was a new
tomb. He hollered it out and he rolled
a great stone to the door of the sepulcher and departed. This
was a rich man. Joseph was a rich man. How'd
he get rich? Joseph was a counselor. Turn
over to Luke 23. Luke 23. Verse 50, And behold, there was a man named
Joseph, a counselor, and he was a good man and just. The same
had not consented to the counsel and deed of them. He worked there. He was a religious man. He was
a false preacher. That was his occupation when
he had heard of the Lord. But he didn't consent to them.
You know what he was doing? He was going against the union.
All of a sudden, he was fighting back a little bit against corporate
Judaism. I hope God teach us in that.
He was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who also himself waited
for the kingdom of God. This man went on to Pilate and
begged, begged the body of Jesus. He wouldn't come out, he was
secret. This was all secret. I believe, but I ain't gonna
tell nobody, I believe, but I won't go church down where they go
church. I believe, but you know, I got to go fishing on the weekends
or I got something important going on. No, you don't. Ain't come to fruition yet. But
he went and begged. He begged the body. He besought,
that's what John recorded. What's his other two? Matthew
and Luke say he begged. He begged the body of Jesus. This rich man that was a counselor,
that was respected in a religious community, went and begged for
the body of a dead man. Mark 15. Mark 15, verse 42. Now when evening 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,
came in and went in boldly unto Pilate. That's a governor. Hes
was a rich man. He was a counselor, but Pilate
was the boss, wasn't he? And he went in boldly, boldly
into where Pilate was and craved the body of Jesus. I love that.
He craved it. That word literally translated
in English is required. They had to have it. Do you crave
the body of Christ? When he says, take, eat, this
is my body which is broken for you. He said, well, I guess this
is what we do. We do this every, fill in the
blank. This is what we do. Or do you crave it? Not just
the Lord's table, the Lord. Do you crave him? Do you beg
for him? Do you beseech for him? And put
all those other things away, because you have to have him.
I didn't have to have him before. I had a good job, and it was
secret. It was secret. Something changed,
something happened, that's the key. And now he's craving, he's
begging, he's beseeching. Do we crave, beg, and beseech?
If we don't, that means whatever happened to Joseph Everly ain't
happened to us yet, and it ain't happened to anybody else yet.
Stay with me now, this is important. I want you to apply this. Let's
not forget this when we walk out the door. Verse 44, and Pilate
marveled if he were already dead, And calling unto him the centurion,
he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew
of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And Joseph, he
bought fine linen. Wasn't that his own new tomb? He went out with his own money
and he bought discounted flea market linen. That's not what
it says. He bought fine linen. This was important to him. 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 upon the door of the sepulcher. Now, this rich
man, this honorable man, this man who was a counselor, what's
said is good and just, he pleaded, he besought, He begged and he
craved. That's how God recorded it in
all four Gospels. What would turn a rich man into
a beggar? I thought about this all week.
Mike, what if Elon Musk came in here? Would he beg you for
$5? Would he beg you for a dead dog? A criminal? If a criminal
died in your property, Cass, Would Bill Gates come down and
beg you and crave and just, please, please give me that dead criminal
in your yard? Pilot marveled all right, didn't
he? What can make a rich man a beggar? Only God. Boy, we're rich in our own devices
and deceits and wisdom and everything we know. Why not? But I just think, here's what
we've always done. Well, stop doing it that way
and bow to God. He has to do that. He has to
break us and he has to make us quit being rich and start being
beggars and pleaders and those that crave. Because that's called
his children. Do we crave? Do we beg? Are we
in need? Well, what about Nicodemus? Turn
over John 3. I know we've looked at this.
This will be the fifth time we've looked at this, but it's good.
John 3. What about Nicodemus? Well, Nicodemus
was a master in Israel, wasn't he? He came to instruct the master. He came to debate with the master. He came to reason with the master.
There was one time, a faithful gospel preacher's been preaching
a long time, 30 years, I guess. And I saw a man go up, he preached
the gospel, and went up to him and just wailed on him after. Why'd you say this? Well, what
about that? And I was sitting there watching. You know what
I wanted to do more than anything? I want to get up in that man's
face and say, what made you think that was okay? That's God's prophet. You better be careful how you
talk to him. And then I took him out in the parking lot, but
thankfully, the Lord restrained me. And then that man who's had
three decades of experience, and this happened over and over
and over and over again, he knew exactly how to handle it. That
just blew my mind. And then I read about Nicodemus
and that blew my mind. I don't understand that. That's
so God has to teach that too. He does. The Lord preached to
Nicodemus, you must be born again. And then the rebuttals and the
kicking back and the trying to make it understand by your own
understanding and his own understanding and my own understanding and
trying to use his own wisdom. Verse seven, John 3, seven. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
you must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst tell whence it cometh,
or whither it goeth. So is every one that's born of
the Spirit. You can't really explain it.
You don't really know when it happened, and you don't really
know the means, but it happened. It happened because you crave,
you beg. Nicodemus answered and said,
how can these things be? Well, explain that to me. I want to
know. Why? Why? That's what little
kids do, don't it? Why? You've got to be like a
child to be in the kingdom of God. Well, he told him why. He told
him how, didn't he? Verse 10, And Jesus answered
and said unto him, Art thou a master in Israel? And knowest not these
things? Sarcasm. He belittled him. You know why? He needed to be
made little. I felt good on another guy one
time he said all you ever do is tell me I told you so you
know what a prerequisite is a requirement for me to tell you I told you
so that means I told you what was gonna happen before it come
to pass and if that's happened repeatedly maybe y'all listen
you get that he belittled him and he needed to be made little
that was the problem he's puffed up Is there any contention in
your life whatsoever? Is there any strain or struggling
or rubbing? What's God say on it? Contention
comes only by pride. Well, there's another way. God
says there's not. God says there's one way there's
contention and it's pride. Well, it ain't me that other
one's being proud. Yeah, well, that's me. It's me, isn't it? Well, the Lord doesn't stop there.
Verse 11. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do
know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our
witness. I told you everything. I swung
for the fences, and you didn't even hear it. It's because you
couldn't, and you wouldn't. And then this is interesting
to me. If I've told you earthly things, and you believe not,
How shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? You all trust me to bring your
family in here and you come in here in eternal matters for me
to preach eternity of life and death and things of God to your
family and loved ones and to you. You think I'm gonna tell
you wrong on something little? What kind of toilet paper we
ought to be buying? God said, you don't believe me
in these earthly things and you don't believe me because you
don't believe me in spiritual things. How are you going to
hear me? Well, I don't believe anything he says except for what
he preaches. And you need to re-evaluate your position. Re-evaluate
who they've hired. Whoever that is that's listening,
re-evaluate who you've hired to be pastor. Verse 13, and no
man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
the son of man, which is in heaven. And that's who's talking to you.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. Now after that, that whosoever,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. For God so loved the world, Jews
and Gentiles. This religious man believed fully
in election. That was a huge catching point
for me when I was 16. Somebody believed in election,
we're buddies. Why would I have been buddies with every Pharisee
that ever walked? 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 that condemnation. that light is coming to the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds
were evil. Don't you dare tell me what I've
done wrong. You don't like your deeds being
totally evil. That's condemnation. That's us by nature. I got an
old man in me, he ain't never done nothing wrong, and I don't
want to hear about it. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. get whipped on, get chastened,
get told what you're doing wrong. But he that doeth truth, cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, I've done
so good, know that they were wrought in God. You quit saying
that you're right, and you'll start saying God's right. You
have to be born again, Nicodemus. What a gospel he preached to
him. Nobody's ascended except for one that descended, and that's
me. And I gotta be lifted up. And then when I'm lifted up,
you're gonna believe. And then you're gonna start saying the
things you did right, and you're gonna start saying the things
God did right. You don't even know that you're saying that
now. You still think you're right. Well, explain it to me. Hush!
Sit down and listen. Well, it might take 10 years.
Well, then that's good. That's a whole lot better than
eternity and damnation, isn't it? Seems like the Lord put him in his
place, didn't he? Seemed like the Lord preached to him. They
had it out, didn't they? This is horrible. No, it's not.
That was God working in him. Wise man told me, if I made you
mad, that's good. That means you was paying attention.
He heard me. The Pharisees later on, they
sent some men to arrest Christ, but they'd heard him preach.
Look here in John 7. John 7, verse 37. John 7, 37. In the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. Out of that new heart, we speak
of what the Lord did. We have our eyes with wine. All
we do is see his blood, and our teeth's white with that milk
of the gospel just coming out, just like Judah, just like all
the sons of Judah. Verse 45, then came, they sent
those guys to arrest him, they didn't. Then came the officers
to the chief priest of Pharisees, and they said unto them, why
have you not brought him? You went to go get him, you heard
him preaching, why didn't you bring him back to us? And the
officer said, never, man, speak like this, man. I've never heard this before.
Did they say, we had a good handle on the gospel, and I've decided
he's saying what he's saying's right. They said, I've never
heard this before. That's a drastic difference,
isn't it? I've seen this happen. I've seen people start going
from, I was right to God's right. And we used to do things this
way, but I ain't never seen, I ain't never heard of a man
like this. God's working in them, isn't he? Then answered them
the Pharisees, are ye also deceived? Are you deceived too? Verse 48,
have any of the rulers of the Pharisees believed on him? Two
of them was right there in the midst. But this people who knoweth
not the law, they're cursed. They're cursed. Nicodemus saith
unto them, he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,
he was one of these Sanhedrin, doth our law, it still says he's
one of them, right? And that law is still his law,
not God's holy law. You notice that? Doth our law
judge any man before it hear him and know what he doeth? He's
starting to process this, isn't it? He's heard what the Lord
said and it wasn't a, he's saved. God's work, don't put a timetable
on God. Okay? We want people to hear the gospel,
have a reaction, and immediately be mature, grown-up believers
for the rest of their lives, ever, ever, ever. Sometimes the
Lord preaches to somebody and then waits 10, 15 years for that
to kick in. That's His business. That's His
business. But this is starting to work.
He still hasn't professed Christ publicly. It's still His law. He was still one of them. He'd
still take a paycheck every month from them, wouldn't He? He wasn't
a good, faithful brother. He was not. Not yet. He's got to see something. Something's
got to happen. Something's got to happen. Same thing's got to
happen to us. It's important. Verse 52, And they answered him
and said, Art thou also of Galilee? Whose side are you on, Nicodemus?
Are you from that podunk town down there? They said, search
and look, go read your Bible. Why don't you go look him things
up? For out of Galilee riseth no prophet. They didn't understand the scriptures
and they didn't even know them. It'd be 400 years without a prophet,
and this is what it comes to. There's a prophet come out of
Galilee. Remember that? Jonah. Jonah was. Jonah, the
son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathelper, that's
Galilee. There's a couple prophets come
out of Galilee. They didn't even know what they
was talking about. The Lord said, you aren't getting
any sign but the sign of the prophet Jonah. He knew what he was talking about,
didn't he? You know what that means to me? The only prophet
you're going to get is the one you rejected, and you wouldn't
even believe him in earthly things. And that's it. That's the last
one you ain't getting no more. Depart from him. Leave him alone, he
said. What a terrifying thing. Leave him alone. Leave him alone. Well, these two cowards were
made bold, weren't they? Look back in our text there in John
19. John 19 verse 38. Saw Joseph who had a good thing
going, rich and a counselor and all these mighty things. Still
working for the Sanhedrin. Saw Nicodemus, a master in Israel,
respected. Kick him back a little bit at
work, but still there, still one of them, still had his law.
Cowards. They say they believe on the
Lord, wouldn't profess him at all, but they're made bold. What
did Joseph and Nicodemus do? Look at verse 38. And he came
forth, end of verse 38. He came therefore and took the
body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus,
which at the first came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture
of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. And they took the
body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes with spices, as
the manner of the Jews is to bury. Took a hundred pounds of
myrrh and aloe. 100 pounds. That's big, isn't it? The typical
amount for a very wealthy person in that time was 20 pounds of
myrrh and aloe. This was 100 pounds. This was
five times more. They went and bought to anoint
the Lord's body. Five times. What's five? Oh,
Brother Pink did a thing on numerology, and I take it with a grain of
salt. Grace. Grace. God had dealt graciously
with Nicodemus. He went and bought that Maranello.
God had dealt graciously with Joseph Arimathea, and he got
it. And he said, you're getting a brand new tomb. You're getting
brand new linen, fine linen. Go get the best stuff they got.
This is my God. This is my Lord. He gets the
best. And hits rags to him, but I'm
going to do the best I can. I'm going to dress the best I
can, and I'm going to walk the best I can. I want to do better.
I get the best. The best. Wrapped in fine linen. Why was that fine linen? That's
the garment of the priest. This is our high priest here.
That's who that was. Interesting for us. There in
Leviticus 16. Somebody got on a don one time
for this real bad. They wouldn't go to church with
him no more because he said britches one time instead of pants. Slacks. Dress slacks. He said put your
britches on. I thought of Leviticus 16. It says Aaron was telling
him what he had to wear when he did the burnt offering. This
is real important at the end. Christ is our burnt offering,
not our buried offering, our burnt offering. That's when he's
offered. The fire of hell, the fire of God's wrath came on him.
But Aaron, he had to put on a holy linen coat and he shall have
linen britches that you unwear. pants upon his flesh, and he
shall be girded with a linen girdle, and a linen mitre shall
be attired. These are holy garments, and
he shall wash his flesh with water before he puts them on."
That was the priest's garments. Our Lord was wrapped in fine
linen. He's our high priest, head to toe. You know, he came
into this world with poor clothes on. Where was he born to come
into? A manger. What kind of clothes
did he have on after he was born? Swaddling clothes? That means
remnants. Poor people close. What's he
buried in? The finest linen there was. The
finest the work's done, isn't it? I thought of that myrrh and
aloe, too. A hundred pounds. It'd take you
a while. Say there's a hundred and fifty pound body and a hundred
pounds of spices and aloe. You had to go through the streets.
Two people carried him. That's a lot of weight. Take a long
time, even though it's close. And I thought all the mocking
that would have took place while he was carried, and all the fair
warnings. Now, Nicodemus, don't let the
boss see you. You're going to get it tomorrow at work. Logic,
logical things, right? Good, wise things, people would
say. You're going to throw you back
out, put him on a cart. He couldn't be on a cart to be
carried. I'm just here to help. No, you ain't. They were carrying
him. And they laid him in a rich man's
tomb. That's what these two did. Why did they lay him in a rich
man's tomb? Isaiah 53 says, he made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich in his death. He made his grave with the wicked. What's that mean? You made your
bed, you're gonna lay in it. You ever heard that? Growing
up, did your parents ever tell you that? No, you made your bed.
Now you're going to lay in it. He made his bed with the wicked. He hung between two thieves.
He made his bed. He willfully went there. This
is his work. This is what he did. Between two thieves. But
with the rich in his death, what's that mean? That's the bed he
was laid in. He made the bed and he was laid in a rich man's
tomb. A rich man's tomb. This is important. Why a tomb? Why wasn't he buried in the dirt?
That's where we're buried. We're buried in the dirt. Why?
Because that's where we came from. The Lord said that in Genesis
3. He said, Our Lord wasn't created from this dirt. He wasn't created
from Adam. He's the rock of ages. He's the
smitten rock. He was buried in the rock. And
they carried him, just like the priest had to carry that ark.
These kings and priests, these two men, these cowards made kings
and priests, loving their Lord, carried his body. Christ, our
ark. You know what, we get the word
casket, that's what goes in the ground, isn't it? That's the
same word, ark. Isn't that precious? Christ is our ark. He's who we
die in. And we go into this dirt again. What an honor. You think about
that. What if the Lord come down here
and gave you a job of cleaning this? Here's what I want done. I want these baseboards clean.
Would we go, eh, that's good enough. Or we'd scrub to them
baseboards red, wouldn't we? We'd have blood coming out of
our fingers to serve it. These two that was cowards that
wouldn't even go to services and wouldn't even identify publicly
with the Lord's people and didn't make eye contact with them, that's
the very two he used to bury his body. What a honor. Why did they do that? God came,
it's a high price. This is a costly thing. God came
to him, he gave them new hearts and he drew them to him. But
why now? And why not before? Well, that's
just the Lord's good timing. Yes, it was, but there's a reason.
Look at verse 38, John 19, verse 38. And after this, After what? There's a therefore,
look what it's there for. After this, after what? Look
at verse 37. And again, another scripture
was fulfilled. They shall look on him whom they've
pierced. Something happened. They saw Christ crucified and
they saw they pierced him. They saw he was hung there for
them. Now nothing else matters. Job said, I've heard of you with
the hearing of the ear, but now my eye seeth thee. I see you crucified. I see the
wrath of God poured out on you because of me. That's my wrath. I see what I am and I see who
you are. You're the one that had no sin, but was made sin. And when that happens, you can
have the best head knowledge you want on earth. But when we
see Him, something's gonna happen. Drastic things take place. When
we see Christ lifted up, truly, not as somebody in 1600 said
back in England, Baptist of faith confessions or something like
that, no creeds, no systematic theology, no Calvinism. When
we see Christ lifted up and exalted, there is no mediocre response. That's what we see all over,
and that's not so. When God works, there's not a
mediocre response. Why? Because we love him. You
mediocre love your daughter? Your children? No, you love them. Well, somebody will make fun
of you for taking care of them. Who cares? I don't care what
nobody thinks. That's my children. You better
watch out. They love their Lord. And when that happens, they bow
to Him, and they serve Him, and they're with those that are other
members of His body, and they look out for them too. Period. Period. When we see Him high
and lifted up, that's what happens. There's no lukewarm thing about
Christ, because He's burning in their hearts. There's a fire
going on in them. That's so... I was afraid to
look up who quoted it. Broke Crocs right twice a day,
so I didn't care to look it up But so I said that when I probably
wouldn't care for much anyway says as a Christian But if being
a Christian was a felony in this country, is there enough evidence
on you to convict you? Well, if we ask you neighbors
well if you ask my neighbors Hmm you think Joseph and Nicodemus
kept their jobs after all this I Do you think they were interested
in going back to that false church? They were right on some things.
They had some things right. Do you think there's interest
in doing that? No, they were excommunicated. They couldn't
get married there. They couldn't have a funeral
there. They couldn't get their retirement fund out of that place,
nothing. And people weren't allowed to
talk to them or make eye contact with them. And that was just
okay with them because they saw Christ crucified for them. Christ
revealed himself to us. Old Joseph and Nicodemus, they
waited a long time for this to happen, didn't they? Long time.
Some people wait a long time to profess Christ in believers'
baptism, don't they? They hear year in and year out.
And if you were baptized underneath something that you can't sit
under anymore, and that stuff, you did something, you didn't
profess Christ publicly. You didn't. Because you didn't
know him. You didn't do it. You didn't
profess him. But why do people wait? Fear. Fear sometimes, isn't
it? What's that, pride? What? I'm old. People will think I
was just saved. Who cares? Who cares? If you love him, you'll
do it. If you love him, you'll do it.
When the Lord saved a person and they see Christ high and
lifted up, you don't have to beg them to be baptized. They'll
beg you. Ain't that right? Your pastor
didn't come to you and say, you won't be baptized. You went to
him and say, it's time for me to be baptized. That eunuch did the same thing,
didn't he? Our Lord says, he that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before me and him, I'll confess also before my father, which
is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before
men, he also will I deny before my Father which is heaven. You
know, I've known some people that's left the gospel for something
else. They were where the sound of the gospel was and they went
to a better job. I have to take it. It's a dream
job. This is how I'm going to feed my family. Well, yeah, there
ain't no gospel there. Yeah, but I got to. They go to
a better job or they go to a place where it's cheaper cost of living.
I want to say this as boldly as I can. Plainly as I can. They left where the gospel was
to go to someplace that was cheap and that their retirement would
support. They go to another place because
that's where they're, well I gotta go take care of my parents, so I gotta
move there, there ain't no gospel church there, but I gotta take
care of my parents. Or their children, well my daughter's over there,
my son's over there, I gotta go there, but there ain't no
gospel church there. That ain't good. There's scriptures
on that. The Lord said, if you don't deny
your father, mother, husband, wife, son, or daughter more than
me, you ain't worthy to be my disciple. You're taking that
too far, Kevin. No, the Lord said that. That's
his word. And I thought of my pastor when
I was growing up, this was pounded into us, but he said, instead
of leaving the gospel for a better job, we ought to leave our jobs
for a better gospel. How many do? A remnant. A remnant. Who gets all the glory
for this? Joseph and Nicodemus, they lost
everything. They were rich men. He wasn't
rich now. You're broke, Bubba. Nobody'll take your money. They
won't even sell you groceries. Nicodemus, you ain't part of
that Sanhedrin no more. You left them religious circles
when he went to God. When he came to Christ, who gets
to glorify this? The Lord does. The Lord does,
doesn't he? This is all his doing. His perfect
providence to honor himself, to glorify himself. He used two
cowards. The least likely two to do it.
This is real important, stick with me. If I lost you, catch
up. Where was Joseph buried? The same place every believer's
buried, in the Lord's tomb. He was buried in the Lord's tomb,
in the cleft of the rock. That's where we must be buried. Jacob said, I'm to be gathered
unto my people. It's got to happen. The master
was risen out of that tomb when Joseph died, so there's plenty
of room for him. Our Lord's on his throne right
now, and there's plenty of room. Come on. I know there's room
because we ain't, this world's still here. What would they call
his last saint home? Come to him, profess him, bow
to him. The master's risen. And I thought this too, Joseph,
he hewned out, that's his tomb, his new tomb, he hewned out,
right? in the grave that he dug for
himself. We dig our own graves, don't
we? We did our own sinning at a great cost to us, but the Lord
laid in our place. Do you see that this is all substitution?
You think that went through their head? You think Nicodemus and
Joseph were standing there with all their understanding and wisdom? That's where I ought to be laying.
He's laying there. That's what has to happen. Do
you think they considered that? The graves that were laid in
being in Christ, no one's going to take anyone else's spot and
no spot will be found empty. I said that before, Genesis 49,
his eyes were red with wine, his teeth white as milk. As we
see him, if he works in us, and this is passionate inside of
us, because he's living in us, and what comes out of our mouth
is that milk of the gospel, that drives all of our thoughts and
all of our decisions, day in and day out. How to deal with
people, how to deal with our neighbors, where we live, how
hard we work at our given occupations, and how we're buried, it does.
I've got to touch on this. I did before, but not I don't
think I did it plain enough. What is done with the bodies
of God's children? We have physical bodies, they
die. We are not to desecrate this body. To burn it is to desecrate
it. That's so. What did God do with
Moses? It says in Deuteronomy 34, Moses
was a servant. He died there in the land of
Moab according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him.
The Lord buried him in a valley in the land of Moab. That way
nobody'd know where it was and nobody'd go worship where he's
buried. God buried Moses. What happened to the Lord? What
happened to Christ? God buried Christ, didn't he?
Buried in the ground. Is that good enough for Christ?
That's good enough for me. How about you? What about being
burnt? Well, we read in Revelation 20
and several other places, just one I picked. Whosoever was not
found written in the book of life was cast into a lake of
fire. Christ was that burnt offering
for us. That's what when Aaron went to
go ahead to those white linens, it was taking a burnt offering.
Christ was our burnt offering. And because he was burned in
the father's wrath and the father's indignation, we'll never burn. Now I may die in a house fire,
but if I got my druthers and I get a pick, you're gonna put
me in the ground. If it's too expensive here, I can buy a plot
of land somewhere else. It don't cost much to transport dead bodies. I'm talking cremation. I don't want there being any
confusion after this. That's what I'm talking about. I went through
that before. The kings, they had a big bonfire
for him, but they didn't burn him. They know we're in scripture.
They're buried. Where'd all this take place?
John 19 verse 40. And they took the body of Jesus
and wound it in linen clothes with the spices as the manner
of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was
crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden, a new sepulcher
where was never man yet laid. There was a garden there. Our
Lord lay there like no man has ever laid before. We're back
in the garden again. Is there a garden in your Bible? We're back in the garden again.
The first Adam. He was made in a garden, and
he died in a garden. The second Adam, he was laid
in a garden and arose from a garden. He laid like no man's ever laid,
and he arose like nobody's ever ascended. That we may live in
him, be holy forever, secure, perfect forever. In a garden,
that's where he did it. My friend Paul asks this sometimes,
who wrote this book? Have you seen anything more majestic
than that? It's magnificent. It's without air. If we have
the lens of the gospel to see these pages through, it's perfect.
Christ gets all the glory for it, don't he? That's what I said.
That was my last question. I guess I had one more. He still
gets the glory, huh? I hope that's a blessing to you.
Let's pray together. Father, we want to be faithful
servants. When we see Christ, and Him crucified, and what's
finished, and Him risen, and Him seated on His throne, in
order to desire to be a faithful servant, to be a good and wise
servant. It's in us, but you must do it. We beseech you. We beg and we
crave to see Christ and honor Him and live as people in this
world that honor Him and know Him. I know that comes through much
trial, Lord, and much pain, and loss of family, and loss of loved
ones, and respect, and money, and position. Make us that way. Use us. Use this assembly you
have, this congregation, this part of the world. Lord, give
us wisdom. Thank you for what you've revealed
to us. Thank you for our understanding that you've given us of our Lord. Thank you for giving us a heart
that adores Him. Lord, forgive us for what we
are. Forgive us our cowardice and this flesh, and it's always
worn against us. Be with our brethren, Lord, those
that aren't with us tonight, that are in the pain and the
trial that you've sent. Strengthen them, Lord. Give them
wisdom through it. It's because of our Redeemer,
because of where He is now and His intercession for us that
we come boldly to ask these things. Amen.