That's all we've done, convicting
him, hasn't it? Should be, if they pay attention
to the Word. Conviction's good, though. All
scriptures given by inspiration of God are profitable for doctrine,
for reproof. We need reproofing, we need convicting,
we need to be chastened, we need these things.
And that's a biblical truth that God's people are part of an army. Armies of heaven. And there's
a warfare. There is indeed a warfare. Christ
fought the battle by himself on Calvary's tree. That battle
is not yours. That was the Lord. And he won. But this warfare, this struggle
we have in this life goes on in sin. Alright, go to John 19
with me. John 19. Let's read verses 38-42. John 19, 38-42.
After this, Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus, but
secretly for fear of the Jews. He sought Pilate that he might
take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. He
came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came
also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night. And he brought a mixture of myrrh
and aloes about a hundred 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. Now in the place where he was
crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre
wherein was never man yet laid. That was Joseph's tomb. And there
lay Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation death
for the sepulcher, was nigh at hand. Now, verse 38 begins this
way. After this, after our Lord was
crucified, and after Joseph and Nicodemus saw him crucified,
They were secret disciples. Not anymore. Not after seeing
Christ crucified for them, bearing that shame for Him. They were
apparently somewhat ashamed. They came by secret. Not anymore. Not anymore. Secret disciples,
no more. Once you've really seen Christ
crucified, You cannot be a secret disciple. Only after a dead sinner sees
Jesus Christ crucified will he live. Only after a lost sinner
sees Christ and Him crucified will he be found. Only after
seeing Christ crucified will a rich man become a beggar. Will a religious, self-righteous
man become a follower, a pupil, a disciple of Jesus Christ and
leave his religion? Only after hearing and seeing
Christ crucified will someone come out of this world, will
come out of religion and start following Christ and Christ alone
and be identified with the people of Christ, the body of Christ.
That's who the body represents, you know, like these two men,
like these two men, Joseph and Nicodemus. Now, even the Lord's
disciples were still full of some doubt and fears, weren't
they, before Christ was crucified. Before Christ was crucified,
they didn't really believe like they're going to believe after
they see him crucified. Until after Christ was crucified,
buried, and risen again, they still had doubts. They still
had fears. They still had unbelief. But
once they saw their living Lord, after He was crucified, their
doubts and fears are gone. Their unbelief is gone. Listen
to this. Before the cross, do you remember?
Before the cross, they were talking about their own greatness. You remember that? Before the
cross, they were arguing about who was greatest. After the cross,
they only talked of his greatness from then on. They would never
bring up themselves, anything concerning themselves, ever again,
after the cross. Before the cross, they argued
who was the greatest apostle. After the cross, I'm sure there
was an argument about who was the chief of sinners. Before the cross, there was strife
among them. After the cross, they were striving
together for the faith. Before the cross, they boasted
of devils being subject to them. You remember that? They went
out, the Lord sent them out, and the devils were subject to
them. And before the cross, they boasted of that. The devils were
subject to that. After the cross, they boasted
of how Christ crushed the devil's head that removed them from his
hold. Our Lord even said to Peter once,
looked him right in the face, and said, Get behind me, Satan.
And Peter didn't catch him. And Simon Peter boasted, and
our Lord said, Satan has desired to see you. He didn't catch you.
Oh, after the cross, he knows. He knows. Now, boasting excluded. Pride I have laced. If any boasting,
I'll boast in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Before the
cross, they spoke of many things. They spoke of the beauty of the
temple, didn't they? They took the Lord on a tour
of the temple. They wanted to show the Lord
the beauty of that temple. He who left heaven After the
cross, they were struck with one thing, His union, His glory. And so it is with everyone. Anyone
that talks about this, talks about that, talks about their,
whatever they do for God, talks about this man or that man, old
dead preachers all the time, and people like that, I wonder
if they've seen Christ crucified. I tell you, since we've been
looking at the cross, I feel like I've seen it for the first
time. I've seen Christ for the first time, if you've been listening
carefully. After this, see that? After this,
every word is significant. Joseph of Arimathea. This is
what every elect, chosen, called, born again, child of God, every
true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ will do. This is what
every disciple means, pupil means follower. Every true disciple
of the Lord Jesus Christ will do what Joseph of Arimathea did
after he saw Christ crucified. Look at it, verse 38, being a
disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews. Now he's
no longer a secret disciple, but he besought Pilate. He came
into the presence of Pilate himself that he might take away the body
of Jesus. He besought Pilate. And another
place it says he begged him. He prayed, he asked, he sought
the body of Christ. Joseph besought, begged, prayed
for the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was given to him.
And it sufficed. Now let's look into this. Who
came? Who came to the Lord seeking
his body and why? Who was it? Now Joseph, that's
his name, Joseph. You've got a good name tonight,
Joseph, like your mother had a son named Mary. She still has
it. But Joseph means adding, or the
Lord will add. There were a few Josephs in Scripture
once. And apparently every one of them were God's elect. Adding. Joseph. Joseph came. Why? Because the Lord added to
the church daily such as should be said. Should be said. Anyone
he chose, they're going to be saved. They should be saved,
and they will be saved. Joseph came because he was God's
elect. He was Christ's elect. He was
chosen. He was given to Christ by the
Father. And he was called. He was given, and he was called,
and he was drawn by the Father. Didn't our Lord say, no man cometh
unto me except the Father? No man can come unto me except
the Father which hath sent me. That means any man who comes
to the Lord Jesus Christ does not come of their will, but they
come by the will of God. They come drawn by the Father. They come because the Spirit
of God moves them to come to Christ. Or they will not come. There you go again, preachers.
Yes, here I go again. Because he gives all the glory. Joseph did nothing to decide.
I think y'all can go get the Bible. No, God moved on him.
God moved. Joseph came. All whom God chose,
all whom Christ died for, they will be saved. They will come
begging for the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And why did he
come? He came for one reason. He needs
one thing. He had everything. He's a rich
man. But there's one thing they need. The body of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He'd be incomplete without it.
Look at Matthew 27 with me. Look at Matthew 27. This is recorded
in all four Gospels. Matthew 27, Mark, Luke, and John. Nicodemus is only mentioned in
the Gospel of John. Joseph is mentioned four times. In Matthew 27, it says this of
Joseph, verse 57. Now, when evening 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. A rich man, a rich man. Why did he come? Well, because
the Lord chose him and he came, this rich man came, that the
scripture might be fulfilled. How many times have we seen that
in the study of our Lord's crucifix? Everything took place that the
scripture might be fulfilled. Well, Isaiah 53.9 says he made
his grave with the rich. The rich. So that's why this
man came, to fulfill Scripture. Rich man. What mercy, what grace,
what power to make a rich man want the body of this poor, this
poor Nazarene. This rich man had everything.
What's he need with the body of Christ? He finally realizes
that he, Christ, is the one thing they thought. You know, the scripture says,
not many wise men of the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble
are called. You know, the scripture says,
our Lord said this, it's easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
He said, how hardly shall they that have riches enter the kingdom
of heaven. It's easier for a camel to go
through the eye of an eagle. Can a camel go through the eye
of an eagle? No, it's not possible. It would take a great miracle. That's how difficult it is, how
impossible it is. With man, it's impossible. The disciples asked him, Lord,
who can be saved? He said, with man, it's impossible.
No man can save himself. No man will come. And riches
are the greatest hindrance of all. Covetousness is idolatry. Riches. You know for yourself,
even you who believe, you know for yourself that these things
take our minds and our hearts away from our Lord. We think
on these things entirely too much. And if God were not merciful
and gracious in sin trials and afflictions, they might leave him completely,
they might not. James said this, weep and howl,
ye rich. Weep and howl. James said this,
hath not God chosen the poor, rich in faith? The poor have the gospel preached
unto them. God has chosen a few rich. And I'm glad, and you should
be glad too, because all of us in here, comparatively, even
compared to our brothers in Mexico, our poor brethren in Mexico,
some of which still live on dirt floors and grass huts, we're
very rich and increased with goods. But if you have need of
Christ, you are so blessed. You're chosen. The world doesn't. Our society is so rich, this
is the most affluent society in the history of the world,
isn't it? And very few people need this gospel. This is a poor
man's gospel. That's why James also said this,
Joseph, let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is
exalted. You read that tonight instead. And let the rich in that he's
made low. If you're rich, And the Lord
makes you realize you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked
if you realize that. The lay of the seas now, they've
lost sight of that. And the Lord says you're rich
and increased with goods and have need of nothing. I counsel
you, you need to buy something that you can't pay for. And you need ice ads anointed
to your eyes. to see that you're still poor. David was a rich
man, wasn't he? David was the greatest king on
earth, wasn't he? He said, but I am poor and needy,
and the Lord thinketh on me. David remained a poor man spiritually. Blessed are the poor. Isn't that
the first thing the Lord said about blessing? Blessed, you're
blessed, blessed, blessed. The first blessing of all is
for you to realize you're poor spiritually. a beggar like Bartimaeus. If you know that, you'll throw
away your rags and come running to Christ. Like old Joseph of
Arimathea, he's rich and he preached with goods, but now he has need
of one thing. That text I quoted to you from
1 Corinthians 1, not many wise men of the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble are called. I've told you this before, but
I didn't know who it was attributed to. But there was a woman named
Selina who was Countess of Huntington back in the 1700s. She was born
in a nobility and very rich, born and raised in a 40 room
mansion. Just had a silver spoon baby,
you know, nobility. And she herself became a Countess,
whatever that means. Anyway, she was a Countess. Countess of Huntington. Well,
George Whitefield preached there. And she believed the gospel.
And she became his personal chaplain. And he preached to her whole
family. She wanted George Whitefield
to preach to all of her house and all of her family. And the
Lord saved that woman. Countess of Huntington. And he
wrote many letters to her. Many of them, George Whitefield. But she was born in this vast
well, but yet she was chosen of God. One of the few, she was elect
and precious to the Lord. She heard the truth, one whom
God had chosen, called, and she's the one that said, I thank the
Lord for the letter M. She said, it does not say not
any noble or called. But it says, not many. She gave thanks to the Lord for
His sovereign, electing, choosing, calling grace. She became a friend
to the poor. A very benevolent, charitable
woman. And the poor were her friends,
and she, many of them died, and she cared for their children
herself after they died. So, not many, but some. Here came
Joseph. Look at Mark chapter 15. Here's
another account of Joseph coming. Mark chapter 15. Look at verse
43. Mark 15, 43. Now Joseph of Arimathea,
an honorable counselor, which also waited for the kingdom of
God, he came and went in boldly unto Pilate. about it. He begged, he craved, he went
in boldly. That says he was honorable. He
was honorable. The Lord said that about him.
Later it calls him a good man. Well, I know this now. I know
what he thinks of himself now. He doesn't think of himself as
honorable. The Lord called him that, but he does not, but he
considers it the highest honor ever conferred upon him now is
to take the body of Christ and bear it. Many honors have been conferred
upon him, maybe this title and that title, but now, after seeing
Christ crucified, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, now his
greatest honor in life is to bear the body of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's a counselor. He's a counselor. I'm sure he thought back on all
of the counsel he once gave after seeing Christ crucified, after
hearing his voice on a cross, after thinking back of what Christ
said, now knowing something of what he said after his crucifixion. Now he thinks there's one counselor. His name is wonderful. The wonderful
counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. The mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Now
he had but one counselor himself. It was the Lord Jesus Christ.
It says he waited for the kingdom. Oh, he knows now that the kingdom
of God cometh not with observation. He heard the Lord say that. The
kingdom of God cometh not with observation, our Lord said, but
the kingdom of God is within you. The kingdom of God is among
you, Christ said. He is the king, and his kingdom
is unseen. It's spiritual. It's not of this
world. And his servants would fight. And after seeing Christ
crucified, he knows. Joseph knows now. That's the
captain of my salvation. And he wasn't defeated. He defeated
all the forces of evil right then, right there. He now knows.
He now knows. And that kingdom is spiritual.
Once secret, now he comes boldly. Now he comes boldly. John, you
know I'm going to read this. It says in Hebrews 10, by the
witch will, that is God's will, we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. For by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. The
Holy Ghost is witness to us. And then it goes on to say, having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath
consecrated for us through the veil. I believe Joseph, if he
didn't see the veil rent, he heard somebody say the veil was
rent as soon as Christ was crucified. He heard that. And he came boldly. Craving the
body of Christ. Luke 23. Here's another account. Luke 23. Now listen to this. This man craved the body of Christ.
He begged the body of Christ. He went in bold. And nobody had
to ask him to do that. Nobody asked him to do that. God told him to. And God gave
him a desire. God gave him a craving. No one
had to tell him, you need to do this. No, no, no, no. He wanted
to do this. He was made willing in the day of God's power. And
people, when someone hears Christ's voice and sees Christ crucified,
you won't have to ask them to confess Christ. I believe I could talk every
one of our young people into it. I could talk even some adults
into it. Make them feel guilty enough.
Make them feel bad enough. If somebody really sees Christ's
glory, you don't have to ask them to confess Christ. They'll
ask you. Like all the people at Pentecost.
Peter, Simon Peter, the apostles never asked anybody. They didn't
have an altar call. They didn't have a mourning event.
They didn't ask anybody to come down front. They didn't say,
now, while the choir is singing, turn the lights down low, bow
your heads, and nobody disturb the Spirit now. Ha! What kind
of weak spirit is that? God's no beggar. I tell you what
God does, He'll have you begging. When He works on you, you'll
beg. You'll come begging, you'll come praising, you'll come asking,
like the people at Pentecost, like the Ethiopian eunuch. Here's water. What hinders me? Can I do this too? Philip said, if you believe with
all your heart. I believe. Stop. I can't go on until I confess
Christ. You don't have to beg men to
do something for God. God's not a beggar. And this
is the most blasphemous thing you can possibly say. All religion
says this. I say it all the time. I bring
it up all the time because it's the most blasphemous thing you
can say to men about God. Accepting. Accept your King. You don't tell
subjects to accept the King, you tell them to bow. You tell them to bow, he might
have mercy, he might not. If they find out that he's sovereign
like they did at Pentecost, they'll come bowing, begging, pleading
for mercy. I'll tell you, anybody that says
that to me and accepts Jesus, That's another gospel that brings
such reproach on our God, or our God is not up for acceptation. It did anger us. Think of that,
it angers God. Psalm 2. Psalm 2. God says, I have set my king
on the holy hill of Zion. Now kiss the sun. That must have
been angry, didn't it? Now it is said, God commandeth
men everywhere to repent. I asked it. And buddy, this man came craving,
begging, pleading. He's a rich man. He doesn't need
anything. Yes, he does. And only God can do this. And He must. He does it to every
single child of God that He chooses. He makes a rich man big. He makes
a proud man big. He makes a self-righteous man
sinner. Look at Luke 23, verse 50. Luke 23, verse 50. Behold, there
was a man named Joseph, a counselor, a good man, and just. The same had not consented to
the counsel and deed of them. He was of Arimathea, a city of
the Jews, who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. This
man went in the pile and begged the body." Jesus, he begged. Who can turn a rich man into
a beggar but God? Who can turn a righteous man
into a sinner but God? Which brings me to our next man,
Nicodemus. Now, let me say this. Go back
to the text in John 9.10. Let me say this about the rich,
about Joseph, before we go to Nicodemus. If Joseph was rich
before because of an inheritance, if his father was still alive,
and he was still the recipient of some of his father's riches
or whatever, now that he is an open disciple, no longer a secret
disciple of Christ, he just might have become poor. He just might
have been disinherited. You reckon? Happens all the time.
I've told you this story before, if somebody hasn't heard it.
But down in New Mexico, Buddy, it's such a rich, such a steeped
in Catholicism, it has a stranglehold on the whole country. That Buddy,
if you renounce Catholicism, if you become a Protestant, you
know, You will be disowned, disinherited. You will be kicked out of your
family. There was an old man that Brother Walter Grover preached
to. And this old dear old man, very poor as it were, and he
had lots of children. And buddy, when he got in that
baptismal pool and confessed Christ, his family wouldn't have
anything to do with him anymore after that. Anything. That kicked him out. And Brother
Walter, Charlie Payne, went down there. Mom, you remember this?
Charlie Payne went down there when this man died. And Charlie
and Walter put that man's body, when this old man died, put that
man's body in Walter's station wagon. His feet were sticking
up between the seat, the front seat, and his body laying back
like that. And they went out and buried his body themselves.
His family went in and buried his body. Do you know what our Lord said?
A man's enemy. For my son. For my son. If Joseph was rich before because
of worldly advantage, because of his associations with people
in the world, if he was rich before, he's going to lose a
lot of that. He's going to lose a lot of that. But he counted the costs. He counted the costs, like our
Lord said. And he counted loss for Christ as a great gain. Like Moses. This is one of my
favorite passages in the scriptures. Yours too in a minute. Moses,
when he came to years, he refused to be called. He was the next
in line to be Pharaoh. Had all the finery of Egypt,
the riches of Egypt. Had it all. Servants, a mansion. When God revealed himself to
Moses at that burning bush which is Christ crucified, the burnt
offering, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's God. Choosing
rather, because he was God's choice, Moses chose to suffer
affliction with the people of God. than choosing that rather
than enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season. He esteemed
reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures in Egypt.
He had respect under that reward. Like Abraham. Abraham let Lot
have it all. Sodom. Lot got perished with it. Abraham was stuck in the mountains
with God. And by faith, Moses forsook Egypt,
not fearing the wrath of the king, like Joseph of Arimathea. He became bolder than Pilate. Now, Nicodemus. Look at verse
39. And it came also Nicodemus, which
at the first came to Jesus by night. He came by night. You remember that story, don't
you? He came by night. What did he want to do? Argue.
ask me questions. Argue, if you want to argue. This is the Lord. You don't argue
with the Lord. You listen. Good questions are okay, but
Nicodemus, when our Lord told him, he must be, how? How can
this be? Can a man enter his mother's He came in darkness, didn't he? He came by night. He was once
in darkness. Once he saw Christ crucified, he sees the light.
The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face,
the person, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. What has happened? He's been born again. He came to argue before. Now
it's all answered in Christ. No more questions. No more arguing. He came by night. Now he's born
again. Now he's a beggar, a believer,
a craver, a lover of the Lord Jesus Christ, a follower. Anybody ever sees Christ crucified
and quit questioning truth, he'll see the truth clearly. It's Christ. It's all in him. He's all in
all. He'll quit talking about this and about that. He'll quit
talking about doctrine like the woman at the well. You remember
the woman at the well? She wanted to argue a little
bit. She wanted to discuss doctrine. She wanted to discuss religion.
She said, I'm a man. Listen, you're a bad person.
You have to say this. And that's what she wanted to
do. But when Christ revealed himself
to her, she dropped everything. She didn't have much, but she
dropped it. And she went home, and you know what she wanted
to talk about? You know what came out of her mouth? Come see
a man. This is the Christ. I've met
the Christ. You don't want to talk about
a place anymore, talk about doctrine anymore. She didn't come to a
knowledge of the doctrines of grace. She came to Christ. No, I take it back. Christ came
to her. He was waiting on her. He came to the well and brought
her, because she's one of his chosen. And buddy, when Christ
revealed himself to her in the morgue, The language of all those who
really meet Christ, like Paul, who once was Saul of Tarsus,
Pharisee of Pharisee, Hebrew of Hebrews, blameless under the
law. That's how they say that, you
know, law, it sounds more lawful or something. After that, here's
the language of someone who's met Jesus Christ, when it pleased
God. who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace, not to reveal the doctrines of
grace to me, to reveal His Son in me. When I met Him, He met
Christ. Now, where are you? And Paul, like Nicodemus, like
Joseph of Arimathea, was identified from there on with the body of
Christ, the people of Christ, like Moses, choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God. Paul, the scripture says,
was with them. He was once the high. People
followed him. Now he's following them. Now
he's following old Ananias. Who's Ananias? We don't even
know. Paul's following him. He's a follower. It says he was
with them going in and coming out. Is that Saul? Yes it is. Well, he's just a follower like
the rest of us. Follower of the Lamb. Were these men, Joseph and Nicodemus,
were they rivals before? You know, rich men, higher religious
men, they're usually rivals. They're not friends. Like Pilate
and Herod, remember? They were enemies, but they were
friends, made friends. against Christ, gathered together
against Christ. Were Joseph and Nicodemus rivals
before? They're not now. But they're
joined together for one thing, one cause. Were they adversaries
before? Not now. They're friends. They've
been reconciled. Nothing's going to come between
them now. They've got the body of Christ. They've been joined
to His body. If they had different beliefs
before, you know they probably did. They thought this, the Sadducees
thought this, the Pharisees thought this, the scribes thought this. Not anymore. One Lord, one faith,
one hope, one calling, one baptism, one father, one. Were they going their separate
ways before? They were going their separate
ways before. Not anymore. They had one desire, one craving,
one thought. The body of Christ. Now, this
is no play on words, people. The body of Christ says seven
times throughout the epistles, the body of Christ is you. You. You know that? The church is the
body of Christ. He's the head and you're the
body. It says it seven times. You ask me later, well, look
it up yourself. You've got a accordance. The church is his body. These
men are now, they're craving, they're begging. Not only Christ,
Christ said, except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you
have no part in that. That's a craving, that's a hunger
and a thirsting for Christ, for his gospel, for his word, for
his truth. You want him, you need Christ.
Give me Christ. Christ becomes your bread, your
wine, your everything, your hope. He becomes your your husband,
your father, your everything. You're all and in all. You're
prophet, you're priest, you're king, you're messiah, you're
redeemer, you're mediator, you're everything. He becomes all to
you. You're one with Him. But you can't be one with the
head and not with the body. You can't crave the head and
not the body. They're one. Christ died for His body. They didn't break the legs because
not one bone would be broken. Christ is the head and His church
is the body. You can't love the head and not
love the body. You can't serve the head and
not serve the body. You can't love Him and not love
His body and not crave the fellowship. You can't be a sheep and not
be in the pool. Both of these men came out publicly. They came out publicly identifying
with Christ and His people, like Moses. choosing to suffer affliction
with the people of God. Moses said, I'm not Pharaoh's
daughter, I'm not of Egypt, I'm not of this world. Well, who
are you? This is my people right here.
This is my people. Didn't our Lord say that? Behold,
my mother and my father. My family. Happens every time. Has to. This is what happens
when the Lord does a work and you crave God's people and the
fellowship around the body of Christ. Heaven hope that's what they
were meant together around the body of Christ, the people of
God. I believe they were probably
around for those 40 days that our Lord, you know they were. Wherever Christ was, he
was seen 40 days. There were 500 men. I know two
of them were Joseph and Nicodemus. And they came, now here's some
closing, well let me read this to you quickly and I'll give
you a few closing remarks on these last verses, but here's
what it says in Hebrews 13. Let us go forth unto Christ without
the camp, outside of modern religion. Nicodemus had to get out of that
Sanhedrin, he had to get out of that. Did they kick him out
of the Sanhedrin if he was a member? Yes sir, you noted him. He was
secret in the fear of the Jews. He doesn't fear them anymore.
He fears God. Let us go forth unto Christ without the camp,
bearing his reproach. All right. They came to bury
the body of Christ. Look at verses 39 and following. There came Nicodemus by night,
who came by night, brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred
pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus,
wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of
the Jews is, to bury." They came to bury our Lord's body. Do you
know this body is called the temple? What the hell is that? And we're not to desecrate and
abuse and mutilate this body in any way, shape, or fashion.
Right? Cremation is mutilating the body. Every single saint in scripture
was buried. Now we're going to put this thing
to rest, okay? It's a heathen practice to burn
the body. Now, how significant is that,
that what the Lord is going to do with all unbelievers is throw
them in a lake of fire? How significant is that, that
that's what men want to do now? We're not to do that to their
body. We're to bury them. Our Lord buried Moses' body,
remember? Our Lord Himself. And He wouldn't
let anybody know where it was, or they would have worshipped
the grave. But our Lord God buried Moses' body, and our Lord gave
command for his son's body to be buried. This is the body that
we're going to go back into. The body of your loved ones that
you put in the ground. You loved that body, didn't you?
That's the body you held. This body of our Lord Jesus Christ
was the body that James and John and Peter and all of them held
to and held them. They loved his body. You say,
that's not you, that's just your tabernacle. I beg, I'm sorry,
the Lord's going to put, He's going to raise these vile bodies.
They're going to be incorrupt. This mortality is going to put
on immortality. They're going to be without sin
someday, but it's going to be this body. They said that of
Christ, this same Jesus. They didn't recognize Him because
He had a glorified body, Had scars in it, didn't He? That's how they knew it was Him.
Worth the burial of His body. All the sons of Abraham and Jacob
were buried. Face up. Why is that? We're waiting on His coming. Look it up. Look up. Your redemption
draws nigh. We spend our whole life faced
down. Look how we grovel here below. Boy, when he goes to be
with the Lord, all with an open face, beholding
the glory of the Lord. And not to desecrate this body,
this temple in any way, in any way. Well, that's the end of
that question then. No more debate about that. But
what? The Lord. And baptism. What is baptism? A symbol of
being crucified? What? Buried. Buried with Him
in baptism. Burnt. Christ was burnt on the
cross, but not consumed. He's the burnt offering. I'm
not going to be burnt. He was burnt. I'm going to be
buried. Not a bone of mine is going to
be broken. He's going to raise this body, fashion it like unto
His glorious body. And He brought myrrh and aloes.
This is wonderful. The Academists brought a... Remember
Mary brought a pound of sphagnum. It was very costly. A pound.
He brought a hundred pounds. But the Lord didn't need an ounce
of it. He didn't need an ounce of this. They thought, well,
He He brought a hundred pounds of
myrrh and aloes, precious spices, but he didn't need any of them
because the Song of Solomon says of the beloved that his cheeks
are a bed of spices, a bundle of myrrh. There's not going to be any smell
of dead flesh or corruption coming out of that tomb. Just a little
bit, the stone is going to be rolled away. And there's not
going to be any corruption, any unpleasant smell, offensive odor
of dead flesh in that tomb coming out of that tomb. I tell you,
it's going to be a bundle of spices coming out of there. It's
going to be spices like the incense before the altar going all the
way up to heaven. A sweet smell and savor of a
sacrifice accepted. Like Noah, when he got off that
ark, the first thing he did was sacrifice. And we're all crucified
with Christ. And God smelled a sweet smelling
savor. He said, I will not curse the
ground anymore. Christ conveyed a curse upon
them. Myrrh and aloes and spices. You know, myrrh, we believe,
is the balm of Gilead. But they took the body of Jesus. How difficult was it for them
to take His body off that cross? Have you ever thought about that? I've carried a dead body before.
About a hundred and some pounds. Dead weight. It's tough. And hanging on that cross, I
don't believe they had any help. They would have thrown, they
would have just tossed that cross over like they did the rest of
the thing and thrown that whole thing into a pile of dead bodies. That's what they've done. Our
Lord said, no way. He's going to be buried with
honors. He's going to be buried with
great dignity. And so these men brought the
finest. And they brought his body down. Let me tell you something.
Mary did not hold his body. No, no, no, no. Like I said,
he came later and held her dead body, but she did not hold his
dead body, but these two men did. And they took that precious
body of their Lord who had been crucified for them, took it down
gently, took it down reverently, took it down with great honor. And they wrapped it, what'd they
wrap it in? Linen clothes. Why'd they do
that? High priest's garments. That's what the high priest wore.
Linen. And that's the righteousness
of saints. White linen, fine linen. Our Lord was wrapped when He
first came here in swaddling clothes, rags. How typical is
this? How wonderful is this? Wrapped
in swaddling clothes. That means borrowed. She was
poor. They had to find something. Wrapped him in swaddling clothes.
He took upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh. But, buddy,
when he was crucified, he now wears the garments of the priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. And look at this. Prepare to
be amazed by this if you haven't already seen it. Now, in the
place where he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the
garden a new sepulcher wherein was never man laid. That's where
they laid Jesus. And the sepulcher was near there.
A garden. How fitting is it, how fitting
is it that the first Adam died in the garden. And now the second Adam has come. And it was the death of death. Who wrote this book? Of whom
do the prophets bear witness? Who is this book all about? Jesus
Christ and crucified. Second Adam from above. Reinstate
us in thy love. Stand with me. Our Lord, we stand amazed by
wonderful, marvelous Son, Son of Righteousness, who is risen
with healing in His wings. We're about to see Him risen
as we study Thy Word. And we look so forward to it.
We thank You, Lord, for this wonderful opportunity and blessed
privilege of looking into Thy Word. Oh, it's a rich mind. Christ the pearl of great price
is found for those that dig. And O Lord, someday we'll see
Him as He is. We'll know as we are known. We'll see Him face to face. And we
look forward to that day to see our risen Lord reigning and ruling. Be held by Him and hold Him.
Until then, Lord, let us remember Thee in all things. Remember
Thee. Remember Him who was crucified,
married for us, and now raised and ever lives to make intercession
for us. We thank You, Lord, for revealing
Christ to us, in us. We thank You for Christ and Him
crucified. Let us always be mindful of Him. We know that Thou art
mindful of us. Forgive us, forgive us, forgive
us, Lord, for our worldliness. Just forgive us, Lord, we pray,
for Christ's sake. Amen.