Mark chapter 15 into chapter
16. Mark 15 verse 42. And now when
the 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 of God, came
and went in boldly into Pilate and craved the body of Jesus.
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 it, of the
centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he brought fine linen
and took him down and wrapped him in the linen and laid him
in the sepulcher, which was hewn out of rock and rolled a stone
unto the door of the sepulcher. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the
mother of Joseph beheld where he was laid. chapter 16, verse
one. And when the Sabbath was passed,
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome had
brought sweet spices that they might come and anoint him. See,
they didn't believe he was going to raise that. Why would you
bring something to a body that's not going to be there? So there's
still And they're still like us. They've seen them, they've
heard them. He told them time and time again,
and these hearts are cold, these hearts are hard, and these heads
are hard. So they brought these spices
to anoint him. Verse two, and verily early in
the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the
sepulcher at the rising of the sun. And they said amongst themselves,
who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? There it is. There's something
between them and the Savior. Impenetrable. Unmovable. There's a problem. They've got
this. They know it. There's a stone here. We can't
move it. What are we going to do? How
are you gonna approach God? You got this, you got these problems,
you got sin. You were born in sin, you inherited
Adam's sin. There's all these obstacles.
Look at the next verse. And when they looked, they saw
the stone was rolled away, for it was very great. What about you this morning?
Is sin lying hard on you? Maybe you don't like to think
about it. Maybe you don't like to think about death. Maybe you
don't like to think about original sin. Maybe you don't like to
think about depravity. Let's just go on, it's a sunny
day. Come on, let's not think about
these things. No, these women came and they had an obstacle
and they couldn't do anything about it, nothing about it. You
can't do, I can't do anything about our sin. It's rolled away. It's rolled away. The Lord God took care of it. Isn't that what free grace is
all about? You go trying to do this and
that and all these things and then God by his free, sovereign
grace, unasked for. They didn't ask anybody. They
just knew it was there. They knew it was there. That's
important. Do you know you're a sinner outside
of the grace of God? Do you know that everything you
do, if the plowing of the wicked, says the Old Testament, if the
plowing of the wicked by an unbeliever is sin, I'd say we're all there. We're all
sinners. Well, in this text, we should
see the gospel, the grace of God, the Savior being great and
amazing Savior, and of course, God's glory in the highest. As
I said earlier, I believe it is one of the most delightful
aspects of our God when he reveals simple gospel truths to us. And I think this is it, one.
There's an obstacle, it's gone. not by any merit, not because
I'm the middle son and I'm special to my mom, not because any of
these things that we like to think it could be so. This is
basically simple. What happens here is God, first
of all, is God doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Right there. They said amongst themselves,
who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?
Verse four, the last section, for it was very great. A rock
hewn out of stone, in chapter 15, verse 46, there's this sepulcher
hewn out of rock, and they rode a stone under the door of the
sepulcher. It's not gonna be rolled away
by three women. Spiritually, these women are as we are when
it comes to approaching God. When it comes to it, they want
to get inside the tomb. They want to anoint the body
of the one whom they love. But they can't do it. Can't do
it. We as poor, broken-hearted sinners see an insurmountable
barrier between us and the Holy God. We lament. How can we ever
see the true salvation of our souls? How is it going to be
possible? Sin. Our iniquities, our vile corruptions
are very great. Verse four, for it was very great.
That's just us. That's us. It's interesting,
it's a stone, because that's our heart. We have a heart of
stone from birth, nature and practice. These sins, these iniquities,
if we're looking at it in a spiritual manner, like this rock, it's
too heavy, it's too vast, for us to overcome. It's too much
to free ourselves to get a clear view of the substitute for sinners.
We're not going to be able to see them. They're too much. They're
too big. Woe is us. Sin lies hard upon
us. Its crushing weight will never
be relieved. Who can disperse it? Who can
take it away? Who can pardon or undo its burden? Look and live. They sit amongst
themselves. There's a problem we can't do.
I don't know why we brought this stuff. We can't get through.
Who shall roll away the stone of the door of the sepulcher?
And then they look up and it's gone. It's gone. Look and live. Behold God in
Christ by himself, none assisting. There was no human intervention
here. This is all divine work. This
is all work of the deity. None assisting. None has rolled
this stone away. None has taken upon himself our
sins. We sing a song, we haven't sang
it in a long time. It's number 321. Nothing between
my soul and the Savior. We don't want anything. We don't
want anything. Not even a preposition. Not even
a word. We don't want anything between
us and the Savior. Turn to Isaiah 44. Isaiah 44
and verse 22. This is what happened at the at the sepulcher. This is what
happened at Calvary. This is what happened after he
rose from the dead. This is what happens when he's
seated now at the right hand of the Father. I have blotted
out, verse 22 of Isaiah 44, I have blotted out as a thick cloud
thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins return unto me for I
have redeemed thee. That's what happens. That's what,
in and of ourselves, the stone's there. We can't move it, we can't
remove it. He has intercepted all things
against us, thereby making peace with God. Don't you know when
they, from, it's from distress to joy. There are distressed,
they wanna go in and they wanna do something and they can't do
it, And then they'd look up and it's gone. Don't you know the
emotions, the emotional roller coaster from discouraged, being
saddened, to rejoice. And when you look at yourself,
there's plenty to be discouraged about. Oh, I'm a pretty good
fellow. Well, good in who's not in the
scriptural sense. There's none good, no not one. But they couldn't and then now
they can. Now they can come and have what
they would figure would be sweet communion, at least doing those
things that they came to do. Our Lord has, so to speak, cleared
the way, and it's His way. He's the way, the truth, and
life. He's cleared the way for every one of His elect bride
to enjoy communion with Him. Where, I love this passage in
Romans 5, where sin abounded, grace did much more. That's it,
that's it. Now I want to give two illustrations
of what I think, one Old Testament, there's more, and one New Testament,
illustration of this passage here in Mark. Luke chapter 15. Turn with me to Luke chapter
15, and I know you'll know this story, but in the light of obstructions,
in the light of things getting in the way between the sinner
and his Savior, Luke chapter 15 verses 11 through
32, this is the story of the prodigal. And he's telling this
parable, a man had two sons. The younger of them said to his
father, father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. And
he divided unto him his living. And not many days after, the
younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far
country and he wasted his substance with riotous living. He abused
the love that the father had given him. And he went and he
spent all that he had and then there arose a mighty famine in
that land and he began to be in want. It's a good thing. As a parent, you're concerned.
But no, this is the Lord's providential dealing with this one. And he
went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent
him into his fields to feed swine. Not very impressive. And the
boy would have feigned to have filled his belly with the husks
that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. There's the
care and the love of the world. And when he came to himself,
He said, how many hired servants of my father have bread enough
to spare and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father
and we'll say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven
before thee and am no more worthy to be called by son. Make me
as one of your hired servants. And he arose and he came to his
father. We'll stop there. The son, he
sins grossly. He sins grossly against his family,
against his father. He tries to return. But there's all these barricades
he's got in his mind. Okay, if I... Go to him and just
say, I renounced my sonship. I won't even go. Let me just
be as your servant. So he's got conditions. You make
me as your servant, and I'll do this, and I'll work, and I'll
try to pay. He's got all these conditions.
He's putting these stones up. He's got all these conditions
he's trying to do. But what happens with the father? Well, he says, But, but there, there's that
beautiful word. But when the son was yet a great
way off, his father saw him, had compassion and ran and fell
on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to his father,
I've sinned against thee and before heaven and thy sight,
I am no more worthy to be called your son. But the father said,
away with that thought. It's good that you're convicted,
and the Holy Spirit will convict you of your sin, of your irrelevance
to yourself and to society, and especially our relevance to God.
He does not need us. But the father's like, no, you
don't have to meet any of these conditions. I'm rolling away
that stone. You don't have to meet any of
these conditions. But verse 22, the father said
unto his servants, He's not even listen bring forth the best row
put it on him and put a ring on his hand and his shoes and
his feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it let us
eat and be married so from instant Distress and discouragement to
instant joy. Oh The father but verse 22 the
father removed the stone he flatly lovingly generously receives
him in electing love and Genesis chapter 22. You know this story. Isaac and
Abraham. Genesis chapter 22. Starting in verse 1, And it came
to pass, after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and
said unto Abraham, and Abraham said, Behold, here am I. He said,
Take now your son. your only son Isaac, whom thou
lovest, and get thee to the land of Moriah, and offer him for
a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell
thee of." And Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass,
took two of his young men with him, and Isaac, his son, had
wood for the burnt offering. They rose up, they went to the
place which God had told them. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place far off. And Abraham said
unto his young men, abide here with the ass, and I and the lad
will go yonder and worship and come again to you. Then Abraham
took the wood for the burnt offering. He laid it upon his son Isaac.
He took the fire in his hand and the knife, and they both
went together. And Isaac spake unto his father
and said, My father, here am I with my son. He said, Behold,
the fire, the wood, But where's the lamb? So there's these obstacles. They had a certain order that
they had to do. And he knew that. He said, well,
I see the knife, I see the fire, I see the wood, I see all this,
but where's, there's these obstacles. Look at verse 13. Well, verse
12. He said, the Lord said to Abraham,
lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto
him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing that thou hast
not withheld thy son, thine only son. And Abraham lifted up his
eyes and looked, kind of like those three women, Right? And behold, a ram caught in a thicket. Look, behold, there's these things
that need to be done. But the stone, when Abraham looked
and beheld the ram that was provided, which named the place Jehovah-Jireh,
the stone of insurmountability, that's our sin, rolled away by
the provision of the Lamb of God. Yes, behold the free, unchanging
grace and mercy found only in our majestic Savior and God. I don't know how long that lamb
was there, that ram, I don't know. It doesn't really matter,
it probably was there, but just in the, we would say the nick
of time, Abraham, this is a stone, wait a minute, is provided all along. And these
women worried, we can't get there. But their worry was proved futile
because the Lord, in His sovereign grace, rolled the stone away.
Oh, what joy is now realized, what peace and comfort is now
possessed, Yes, the Father removed every obstacle, the Son purchased
our release, and the Spirit enables us to lay hold of all the promises
of God. Back to our text in Mark. One
thing I love about when we see the Gospel is it takes care of
unto salvation, but it also takes care of after salvation. So that
along with two points, unto salvation and after salvation. Secondly, what about after salvation?
What about after that soul-cleansing look? Well, there's another profound
yet simple truth. Oftentimes, in the greatness
of our troubles, which we suspect, the Lord takes
care of them. The Lord takes care of them.
And I've told this to one pastor, several pastors, and it's true
with me, that when something hits me and I don't have the
wisdom to deal with it as a pastor or as a person or whatever, it
could be whatever. And it caused me great consternation,
an insurmountable, unpassable mountain or stone. And then the
Lord takes it away. The Lord just removes it. What seems to be to us an impossibility,
The weighty stone. God Himself shall row all the
way, and one day we shall see Him as He is. Trials, where is
your sting? Troubles, where is your sting? Afflictions, we all go through
them. Where is your sting? And lastly,
death. Death, where is thy sting? Our
heavenly father through the person and worth of our Lord Jesus Christ
has defeated them all. Turn to Hosea chapter 13 and
we'll close here. Hosea chapter 13 and verse 14. This is Old Testament, but he's
saying the same thing as Corinthians says. Our Heavenly Father has rolled
away the stone, and He will roll away the stone. I, Hosea 13 verse 14, I, says
God, will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem
them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction. And it's easy to say, standing
up here in, I can't say full health, but at least I'm breathing.
Oh, I'm going to be, no, he's, he's taken it. He's promised.
He's, he's promised to roll the stone, stone away. That last
insurmountable barrier is going to roll away. He's going to roll
it away. And you know, when he does this,
it's all for our good and all for his glory. Yes, we are weak,
but I ask you this, I ask myself this, is there anything too hard
for our God or our great King? No. Therefore, come to him. Every obstacle has been removed. and rejoice, rejoice in the lamb
that was slain for sin. Matt, would you close this?