Let's turn back to Luke chapter
23. Tonight I'm going to be speaking
upon the subject of one accord, of one accord from Acts chapter
1, but I've entitled this morning's message From Secret to Bold. Joseph of Arimathea began as
a secret disciple of Christ for fear of the Jews. And when he
comes to Pilate, he does so boldly. From secret to bold. Now, the
story of Joseph of Arimathea is in some respects very unique
because it's the only story given during the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was the one who came and took
his body down from the cross and wrapped it in fine linen
and used the embalming spices of those days. It was very costly. Now, what a high honor is given
to Joseph of Arimathea. in being the one who was privileged
to be used for the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is given a rich man's burial. He's given a burial of royalty. You see, the time of his suffering
is over. The time of his abuse is over. And the father takes great care
with regard to the burial of his beloved son. As a king, he
died. And as a king, he will be buried.
Now, if the Lord had not raised up Joseph of Arimathea for this
very purpose, you know what would happen? They would have taken
the Lord's body and thrown in a pit with other crucified criminals. The Roman government wasn't concerned
about giving these men or women even that were crucified a burial. But this is the father's son
and his suffering is over and he's going to see to it that
he is given a royal burial. Now this is a part of what Paul
calls the gospel. How that, 1 Corinthians 15, 3,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And don't miss that. The gospel
is not Christ died for our sins. The gospel is how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. And it's talking
about the Old Testament scriptures, like the Passover, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you, the great day of atonement. We
have the Old Testament scriptures to teach us what Christ was actually
doing and what he accomplished in his death. Not only does it say how the
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, but that he
was buried. This is a part of what Paul calls
the gospel. He was buried to let us know
that the Lord Jesus Christ really did die. The God-man, the eternal
Son of God, the Son of God, the Son of Mary, the Son of Man,
died. One reason for death. What is
it? Old age? Disease? No, sin. The wages of sin is death. Christ Jesus paid the wages of
sin. Turn with me a moment to Psalm
40. I want to say this right. I've
been trying to say this. Hope I can say it this morning. Psalm 40, verse six, sacrifice and offering thou didst
not desire, Mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt offering and sin
offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book. It's written of me. I delight
to do thy will. O my God, yea, thy law is within
my heart. Now, is there any question who's
speaking? This is quoted in Hebrews chapter 10 as the very words
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember when you read the
Psalms, First, these are the words of Christ. Yes, they're
the words of David, but these are the words of Christ. Quoted
Hebrews chapter 10. Now look what he says in verse
12. For innumerable evils have compassed
me about. And notice what it doesn't say. The elect's iniquities. It doesn't
say Todd's iniquities or put your name in there as him bearing
your sins. It doesn't say that at all. It
says, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I'm not
able to look up. They're more than the hairs of
my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me.
Now that's the Lord speaking from the cross. And he calls
the iniquities that he was bearing my iniquities. Not Todd's, not
the elect's, but mine. Now you and I both know that
Jesus Christ never sinned. He knew no sin. He's the only
one of whom that could be said. He knew no sin. He never sinned. Yet he says my iniquities. What the scripture tells us,
he bore our sins in his own body, not merely the
guilt of sin or the punishment of sin, but the sins of the elect
became his sin so that he became guilty of it. And he said, mine
iniquities. Now this only is just. It is
unjust, it would be unjust for me to pay for the sins of my
daughter, though I love her and if I could take her place and
die, if she was a criminal, I'd take her place, but that wouldn't
be justice, would it? There wouldn't be anything, you gotta be punished
for your own sins, and my sin became his sin, and when God
killed him, he was getting what he personally deserved. Now that's what substitution
means. Are you saying he sinned? Of course not. I despise it when
people say that. Oh, you're saying Christ was
a sinner. No, I'm not. Worse. He was made sin. And he said,
my sins, my iniquities. That is why he died. That is why he died. My sin became his sin and he
really did die. The wages of sin is death, but
he did something that me or you could never do, that no man could
do. In his death, he completely satisfied the justice of God. He made complete payment. God
said, I am satisfied. Now there is a place called hell,
and I will say that with a tear. There is a place called hell,
and hell is eternal. It'll never stop. You know why?
Because God's never satisfied. It's never satisfied His justice.
Sin is an infinite evil, and my eternal punishment could never
satisfy His justice. but there's one who could satisfy
his justice, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He made complete
satisfaction so that God is satisfied with everybody he died for. Now, while he lay in this state
of death for three days, this is the only story we're given
during that time, the story of Joseph of Arimathea. This man
was raised up for this occasion. We don't read of him before this,
and we don't read of him after this. But the Lord raised him
up in answer to the prophecy in Isaiah 53, he made his grave
with the wicked and with the rich in his death. Now, one thing we know about
the disciples is none had any money. They followed the Lord
around and none of them had any money. They were ministered to
the same way the Lord was ministered to of the women that followed
them around. They provided for them food, whatever they needed,
but none of these guys had any wealth. And they certainly did
not have the money to pay for this fine white linen that our
Lord was to be robed in and wrapped in and wound in. That was the
funeral of a rich man. They certainly didn't have the
money to pay for these spices. None of them had the pull to
go into Pilate. I mean, this man must have been
somebody because he could come into Pilate and ask for the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ and Pilate gave it to him. This man
had some kind of pull and he had some kind of resources and
ability that none of the disciples had. And the Lord raised him
up for this very occasion for the burial of his dear son. None of the disciples would have
owned up of a cave to a sepulcher to put the body in so close to
the cross. He did. This is the man God raised
up specifically for this reason. And I repeat, the father takes
great care for the burial of his son. You see, his time of
suffering is over. He is going to be buried in honor
as a mighty reigning king. The time of his abuse is over. You see, when he said it is finished,
and we love those words, when he said it is finished, it's
true. That means the salvation of the elect was finished, was
accomplished. When he said it is finished,
the salvation of poor old Todd Nybert was finished, completed,
nothing to be done. But not only does it mean that
the salvation of all God's people is finished and completed, it
also means his sufferings are over. There will be no more abuse to
the Son of God. His sufferings are over. Now turn to John chapter 19. We've already read this verse,
but John gives us this information about Joseph of Arimathea, verse
38. And after this, Joseph of Arimathea,
being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, he didn't confess his faith openly.
He was a secret disciple. He was afraid of what would happen
to him if he did confess his faith openly. He was a secret
disciple. Don't be too hard on him. How many times have you failed
to confess Christ as you should through the fear of man? Don't be too hard on him. Everybody
in this room at one time or another has been a secret disciple. Shame on us, but it's true. Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple
of Jesus, that's John's estimation of it. He didn't say a phony
disciple, a fake disciple. He said a being a disciple of
Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews. Now, it could have
been that he just had a very timid constitution. You know,
personalities are different. Some people, conflict doesn't
bother them a bit. There are other people who wilt
before conflict and they can't stand it. And for fear of the
Jews, the Jews could ruin his life. He was a wealthy man and
had a position in the Sanhedrin. He's called in one of the accounts
an honorable counselor. That means he was well known
and respected and the Jews could have ruined all that. So he was
a secret disciple for fear of the Jews. But don't forget this. He didn't stay a secret disciple. He began a secret disciple, but
he didn't remain one. Look at that scripture I read
in Mark chapter 15, verse 43. This one who before
the death of Christ was a secret disciple, before the death of
Christ, but after he beheld what took place Look what verse 43
says, Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable council, which also
waited for the kingdom of God, came and went in, what's that
word? Boldly. Boldly. He wasn't a secret disciple anymore.
He came in and went boldly. Now, where were the other disciples
at this time? Where was Peter? Where was James? Where was Nathanael? In hiding,
up in an upper room, gathered together for fear of the Jews. They didn't want to be seen out
in public. But this man now comes in and boldly craves the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I don't have any doubt that
he was grief-stricken. He was so ashamed of himself over his
being a secret disciple and then he saw what had taken place and
now he comes in regardless of cost, regardless of consequence,
at great cost to himself. He didn't care anymore, did he?
He came in boldly and claimed the body of the Lord Jesus Christ
at great cost to himself, could have ruined his career, and he
spent, left nothing undone in preparing a royal funeral for
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I can't help but thinking
about him taking the body down, how gentle he must have been
in pulling the nails out of his hands and his feet, removing
the crown of thorns and bringing his body down and how he must
have been when he wound it in that fine linen. Oh, he was grief
stricken. I don't know how much he understood
at this time, but I know that he was a follower of the Lord
Jesus Christ, this secret disciple became a bold confessor of Christ. Now, each gospel account gives
us something different about this man that will help us to
understand him and how the Lord raised him up for this specific
honor he was given in being used to bury the body of the beloved
son that was going to lay in that state for three days before
God was going to raise him from the dead. In that sepulcher that we read
belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, Joseph placed him in, the stone
was sealed, and sometime during that time, something happened.
You know, I've never really thought of this before, but nobody witnessed
the resurrection of Christ but the Father and the Spirit. In
that sepulcher, Christ Jesus was raised from the dead. But he lies in this state dead
for three days. Now Matthew tells us he was rich
and this was to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 53. He made his grave
with the wicked and the rich in his death. And it had to be
a rich man to do what he did. The disciples couldn't have done
this. It had to be a rich man, a man with means and wealth.
And he was Jesus' disciple. He believed he was the Christ.
And Mark calls him an honorable counselor. He was well-respected
in the community because of who he was and his position. And
Mark tells us he waited for the kingdom of God. That's what he
was waiting for. You mean you're doing that right now, aren't
we? We're waiting for the kingdom of God. I'm waiting for that
time where I'll be perfect in Christ Jesus and that all sin
will be put down and that everybody will be worshiping the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm waiting for the kingdom.
I love that scripture, Galatians 5, 5, for we through the spirit
wait for the hope of righteousness. By faith, we're waiting. for
the kingdom of God. Well, he did too. And he went
in boldly, regardless of the cost now, and craved the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted to give him this proper
burial. Luke also tells us that he was
a good man and a just. A good man and a just. Now, I
remember when I was young, when I would read, I'm still kind
of young, When I was really young, I'd read those scriptures, I'd
think, men must have been different back then. You know, when you
read of, for instance, Zachariah, he was just and devout,
and all these descriptions of these fellows, I thought they
must have just been better people than we are, because I can't
imagine being described as a good man and just, but this actually
describes every believer. I'm just, before God. Not only me, but everybody Christ
died for is just. My sins have been put away. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifieth. He's somebody that God justified.
You see, Christ paid for sins, put them away, gave him his righteousness. He's just. Well, what about this
good? He's good. Well, I have no doubt that that's
talking about what he is in regeneration, the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. This is a description of what
he is in regeneration. Every believer would be described
as a good man and just. It's not talking about what he
is in himself. It's not saying he was this moral man that was
better than everybody else. Not at all. But it is talking
about what he is in Christ. And this is what every believer
is, a good man and a just. And Luke also tells us that he
had not consented with the rest of the Pharisees when they were
having this trial to put, it was unjust. He didn't have anything
to do with that. He wouldn't consent with this.
He gave no agreement to this, but it's John that tells us he
was a secret disciple. There's nothing honorable about
being a secret disciple, nothing honorable, nothing good. He,
How long had he been a secret disciple? We don't know. But
we do know this. There was something he observed
in the death of Christ that made him no longer a secret disciple. And let me tell you this. It's
when we see the glory and the reality of what the Lord Jesus
Christ accomplished on Calvary's tree, that it'll cause us to
be bold, no longer a secret disciple, but boldly confessing the faith
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, think about this man, and
he saw the same thing that Roman Centurion saw. Remember, this
was the man who His job was to crucify people and he was presiding
over the death of Christ. And he saw and heard things that
made him, after this was all over, when he saw Christ give
up the ghost and die, he said, surely this man was the Son of
God. This Joseph of Arimathea saw
the precise thing that that Roman centurion did, where his mind
was completely changed regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. And I've
got to go back once again, and I reckon if I preached on these
every time I preached, it would be good. I know it would. The
seven sayings of the Savior from the cross. He heard all these
sayings. He saw the way the Lord conducted Himself. He saw the
way He acted. But most especially, He heard
what He said. Faith cometh by what? Hearing. Not by sight, but by hearing. And he heard what the Lord said. He heard those first words of
the Lord from the cross, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And remember this, everybody
he prayed for was forgiven. When he said, Father, forgive
them, this is a reference to all of the elect. everybody Christ died for. This wasn't some generic Father
forgive them, and some of the people he prays for, they aren't
forgiven. Not at all, no. He prays at this
time to the Father, Father forgive them. And everybody, this is
why he was on the cross, to accomplish their forgiveness. And everybody
he prayed for was forgiven. What did he hear? Well, he heard
that conversation between the thief and the other thief and
what the Lord said to the thief. He heard that one thief cursing
Christ. If you're the Christ, come down,
save yourself and us, prove it. He heard all that. Then he heard
the other thief rebuke him. Don't you fear God? This is God
you're talking to. Don't you fear God, seeing you're
in the same condemnation? We indeed justly, we're getting
exactly what we deserve. We are getting the due reward
for our deeds, but this man has done nothing amiss. He's never
sinned. And then he looked at that one
and said, Lord, I bet people started making fun.
Can you believe he called him Lord? People around the cross, look
how helpless he is. Hanging on a tree and he calls
him Lord? The thief knew. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. I know you're not going to stay
dead. You're going to come back as a mighty reigning king. Whatever you do must be successful.
Can you believe that about the Lord? You believe the same thing
the thief did. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. And then he heard the Lord speak as a mighty king. Today thou shalt be with me in
paradise. And then he heard the Lord look
down at his mother. I love thinking about that. The
Lord looked down at his mother. Jesus Christ had a mother. You know why? He's a real man. And God doesn't have any mother. But the Son of God, the God-man,
had a mother. Woman, behold thy son. She looked over at John and he
said to John, behold thy mother. But this is a reminder to us
of the humanity the real humanity of Jesus Christ. He's a real
man. And then he heard the fourth
statement after the sun was darkened and no one could see anything. The sun was darkened and he heard
that cry, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He heard
that cry and saw that God really forsook him. Christ the substitute. His Father really forsook Him.
He knew that the Lord wasn't asking that for information.
He knew this was a statement of Him being forsaken by God.
Why was He forsaken? Because He bore our sins in His
own body on the tree. That's why He died. We've already
talked about that. That's why God forsook Him. Because
He was made sin. And then I think of that fifth
statement. I thirst. the sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You know, when he said, my God,
my God, why have you forsaken me? He had enjoyed eternal unity
and witness with his father. And at that time, that was taken
away. And he was all alone. And he
said, I thirst. Oh, how he thirsted for his father
at that time. And then Joseph of Arimathea
heard these words, it is finished. Do you hear the reality of those
words? You know what that means? It
means it's finished. It means there's nothing for
you to do, nothing for you to be. did it all. Christ the Redeemer. He didn't
make redemption possible if you do your part. He redeemed. He by Himself, that means without
me or you, He by Himself purged us of our sins. It's finished. It's finished. I hope somebody
hears, I hope I hear it. It's finished. And then he heard
those last words from the cross, Father, into thy hands, I commend
my spirit. Nobody else ever talked that
way. Father, I'm placing my spirit. He's speaking as an equal to
the father at this time. I'm placing my spirit in thy
hands. Oh, he believed his father perfectly. And he gave up the ghost and
died. And Joseph of Arimathea was witness to all this. He watches him die. And he goes
from a secret disciple to a bold confessor of the Lord Jesus Christ. He went from cowardice to courage. Now, there are two things that
are always involved in this thing of saving faith. Joseph of Arimathea
at this time has saving faith. Maybe he had it before then.
I wouldn't say he doesn't. I'm not saying a secret disciple
doesn't have saving faith, but I know if you're a secret disciple
you won't stay that way. He didn't. Now there are two
things that are always involved in true, God-given, supernatural,
spirit-wrought, saving faith that all of God's elect possess. Two things. Number one, committal. Number two, confession. Number one, committal. Number two, confession. What does that mean? Paul said
in second Timothy chapter one, verse 12, I know whom I have
believed and I am persuaded. Literally I've been persuaded. You see, if you're persuaded,
it's because God persuaded you. You can't persuade yourself.
I've been persuaded. that he is able to keep that
which I have committed to him against that day, that day of
judgment. Now, this word committal, when
we generally use the word commitment, we think, well, that's somebody
that's really dedicated. That's somebody who's really consecrated.
They're really committed. I mean, nothing's getting in
their way. They're really committed. Is that what Paul means there?
No. I mean, I'm all for commitment.
Don't get me wrong. I want to be committed to Christ,
but that's not what Paul means. What Paul means is he's committed to Christ only
as all he has. All of his eggs are in this basket
that what Christ did only is everything in my salvation. That's
what commitment is. You've committed to Christ when
He is all you have. Your only hope of salvation is
what He has done for you. And you don't look anywhere else,
and you don't look to anyone else. You look to Christ only. I love the line of that song,
when from the dust of death I rise to take my mansion in the skies,
even then shall this be all my plea. that Jesus lived and died
for me. All your hope is right there. If I believe in works, if I believe
my salvation, any aspect of my salvation is dependent upon me
doing anything. I've never committed. You're committed. When all your
hope is found in His statement, it is finished. And if you look anywhere else,
you fail to commit. Have you committed the salvation
of your soul to Christ like Joseph of Arimathea did? I turn with
me to Romans chapter 10. The second word is confession.
Confession has something to do. You might not even be able to
say the right words, but you're going to identify with them.
You're going to identify with the message and you're going
to do so publicly. Confession is always public.
I'm identifying with the message of the gospel. I'm identifying
by confessing Christ and believers baptism, but it's a public confession. Now look in verse, 9 of Romans chapter 10. If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. He's the Lord. You know what
that means? That means he's in charge. That
means he's running everything. That means He's the Creator.
That means He's the Controller of Providence. That means He's
the Lord of Salvation. Your salvation is not up to you,
it's up to Him. That's what you're confessing.
I despise it when some silly preacher says, make Him the Lord
of your life. That's one of the most evil... He is your Lord,
whether you know it or not. You're in His hands. He's the
Lord. And we confess that, don't we? He's the Lord. The Lord Jesus,
the only Savior, if thou should confess with thy mouth, the Lord
Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead. Do you believe that in your heart? I do. I know he did. And I know why he did it. It's
not just believing the physical resurrection, it's knowing why
he did it. Because he rendered to the Father
complete satisfaction. Thou shalt be saved for, verse
10, with the heart man believeth under righteousness. The heart
is the understanding, it's the affections, and it's the will. I understand that Jesus Christ
is the only righteousness I have. I love it that way. with the
heart, with the affections, with the will. That's the way I want
it. I want his righteousness to be my only righteousness.
With the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation. Now, Joseph went from
a secret disciple to a bold confessor of the faith. all because of
what the glory that he saw in the life, the death, the burial
and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was given
this high honor. And I love to think about how
carefully he must have removed the body of Christ from the cross.
I have no doubt that he was grief stricken over his secrecy and
so ashamed of himself for being that way. and how carefully he
wound the body in that linen and he prepared those spices
along with Nicodemus. He brought a hundred pound weight
of spices along with him. That would have been very costly.
You remember how he's the one who came to Jesus by night in
John chapter three? Now he is boldly confessing Christ
at this time. Well, conclusion. God rules and overrules. Look at the way he raised up
Joseph of Arimathea for this one purpose. And what a high
honor is given Joseph of Arimathea to participate in the burial
of God's dear son, whom God was going to make sure it was the
burial of royalty. Here's the second statement I'd
like to make in closing. Ask Joseph of Arimathea, how
much of salvation is by grace? Oh, he would have said it's all
of grace. He knew that. Oh, how he knew that salvation
was of the Lord. How he rejoiced in the electing,
redeeming, justifying, regenerating, calling, preserving, keeping,
glorifying grace of God. He would have sang out, O to
grace, how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. He knew
he was nothing but a weak, secret disciple, and only grace could
enable him to boldly confess Christ. Another thing I want
us to remember about this is Christ died, and you're gonna die too. and
you have nothing to fear because He went before you. He died and
He was raised from the dead to glory indescribable. And every believer, you have
nothing to fear in death because He died for you. You're going
to rise to glory indescribable. Because Christ died, saints have
nothing to fear in their death. You will die, but for a believer,
there's nothing to fear. And you know, regarding Joseph
of Arimathea, if we would have made a judgment
regarding this man, it would have been, this guy's got great
question marks. Great issues. I'm not sure that
I could call him a believer. That's the way we would judge.
Look at that secret disciple. What's wrong with him? Don't make judgments like that.
This man who was a secret disciple, by the grace of God, became a
bold confessor of Christ. And any judgment we make with
regard to anyone, we can't do it. We don't know what the Lord's
gonna do with that person. We don't know what the Lord's
doing. We don't have enough information to make any judgment about anybody.
And as far as that goes, any judgment we make against anybody
is pure hypocrisy because we're worse than they are. Amen? You
believe that? We don't have any business making
any of those judgments. We see that in Joseph of Arimathea,
that one who was a secret disciple by the
grace of God, became a bold confessor of Christ. May me and you be
enabled to be Joseph of Arimatheus. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
sacrifice of thy dear son, for his life, his righteousness,
his death, the full payment of our sins, his resurrection, our
justification. And Lord, how we admire the way
you raised up Joseph of Arimathea for the burial of your son. And Lord, we ask that we might
be by your grace like him, a bold confessor of thy son. Lord, take
this message and bless it. for your glory and for our good.
In Christ's name we pray, amen.