ashes where there was a flame truth is that you're
not forgotten because christ knows your name
Until you're standing in the dark And there's
a shake that's growing Jews, the preparation
day was the day where some things got taken care
of so that the next day could be focusing on
God. I do think that's sometimes what we sort
of forget to do. So Sundays are our day to focus
on God, and we forget that Saturday is the day
to get some things knocked out to focus on God.
For me, my day, I work a lot of times all day
on Sunday, and so I take Wednesday 6 p .m. to
Thursday 6 p .m., and I have had this experience
poignantly. where 5 .30 p .m. on a Wednesday,
I am rushing to get some things knocked out before
6 p .m. on Wednesday. I can stop doing work stuff
and focus on the Lord for that 24 hours. It goes
all the way back to Egypt, where the Lord was
raining, after they came out of Egypt, the Lord
was raining manna down. Manna means, what is
it? So there was some stuff falling from the
sky or appearing on the ground, and they would
collect it up and they would make food out of
it. And because that collecting up was work,
then the day before the Sabbath, they were supposed
to collect up double. If they collected up double
on any other day, it would go bad. It would rot.
It would get bugs in it and that kind of thing.
But on the day before the Sabbath, they were
supposed to collect double, and that way they
wouldn't have to work on the Sabbath. Okay? Go
back to Egypt then, all the way back to Egypt,
when the destroyer angel was going to come through
and kill all the firstborns, they were told to
slaughter a lamb and then to put its blood on
the... beside their door, the doorpost of their
house, and that the angel would not come through
and destroy their firstborn because of the blood
of the lamb that marked their house. So the day
before that, they had to slaughter the lamb and
do all the things they were supposed to do in
order to be prepared for that blood on the post
that would protect them from that death, right?
So the concept of preparation is not really not
understood by us. Let's say you have a job interview
tomorrow at 8 a .m. You're probably going to
do some things today to be prepared for that.
Let's say you're taking the SAT in the morning
tomorrow at 8 a .m. You're probably going to
do some things today to be prepared for that.
Go to bed at a decent time, eat right, drink
plenty of water, things like that. Make sure
you get up a little early, that kind of thing.
So the concept of being prepared is not foreign
to us, but for some reason we don't think to
apply it to the moment when we're going to put
our total focus on the Lord. And we should. And
that's a concept that they understood. So Jesus
is about to be crucified. And he is the lamb.
We'll come back to that later. But he is the
perfect sacrifice. And preparations needed to
be made for that. They did have the instigation
of the Lord's Supper, as we celebrate it now,
was done before he was arrested. They did have
a Passover meal. And it may have been the Passover
meal or it may have been just part of the festival
of that week. We don't know for sure. So what
we don't know for sure historically is whether
Jesus was crucified on the preparation day or
not. But whether he was crucified on the preparation
day, which is the day that all the lambs were
slain, right? Or whether he was done crucified
during the Passover. Either way, it's clear that
he was the lamb and that his sacrifice was the
preparation for our salvation. Grab your Bibles
if you would. We're going to just look at a very
short section of verses today as we lead up to
the resurrection Sunday. And this is sort of
resurrection Sunday today, but you'll understand
this meaning a little bit later when I mention
it. But next Sunday is a high resurrection day.
Okay, you'll get that term in a minute. So grab
your Bibles if you would. Give me a who to holler
amen as we go to Luke chapter 23. Thank you for
being with me today. This is God's Word. We are
focused on Him as we are focused on it. Luke
chapter 23, beginning in verse 50. I'll be reading
from the New American Standard Version. It is
just six verses, seven verses, sorry, 50 through
56. It says, And behold, a man named Joseph,
who was a member of the council, a good and righteous
man. And that's the whole of verse 50. So Joseph
is called a member of the council, so we know
that means, and we know historically it's supported
that he was a member of the Sanhedrin. Now the
Sanhedrin were the people who voted to crucify
Jesus. They were the leaders of the Jews. They
were composed primarily of Pharisees and Sadducees.
And so they would come together and they would
decide all the governmental matters of the Jews.
And they collectively voted to crucify Jesus.
Now the trial was a farce. It was an illegal
trial. It happened overnight and they were not
allowed to have trials when the son was down.
So that made it an illegal trial. They also enlisted
Herod and Pilate and people like that to have
an additional trial because they couldn't technically
crucify him and all of that was done illegally.
They trumped up witnesses against him to try
to get them to agree on two things that they
had seen him do that was sin and they couldn't
find any two is the bottom line. And then ultimately
he admitted that he was God in the flesh using
some symbolism, but he admitted that he was God
in the flesh, and that is what they said they
would crucify him for. But when they took him
before the Roman government, that was not the
accusation. It was that he stirred up trouble
and claimed to be the king of the Jews, contrary
to Caesar being king. So that was what he was
crucified for as far as the Romans were concerned.
So Joseph was a man who was a member of the council.
Notice it says that he was a good and righteous
man. It means he did things right. Now, I submit
to you that if he's a member of the council,
right away, if you haven't read any further,
and he voted to crucify Jesus, that would not
be a right thing. Because Jesus was an innocent
man. So you notice then it goes on in the next
verse, and it says, and it's parenthetical, which
means it has a left parenthesis in my Bible,
verse 51. It says, he had not consented to their
plan and action. A man from Arimathea, a city
of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom
of God. We now know that he was a believer and
that he did not take part in the vote or if he
voted, he voted against. They didn't have to
have a unanimous vote to crucify or to send him
to the Roman government to be crucified. So he
might have been there and voted against. We don't
know for sure. Or he might not have voted at
all. He might not have been present. Since it
was an illegal trial and he was a good and righteous
man, I'm going to say that most logically he
probably wasn't there. Right? Because he knew
it was an illegal trial. A good and righteous
man would not be there and participate in the
Sanhedrin overnight when he knows that that's
an illegal trial. So that makes sense to me.
But notice that that parenthetical statement
has a purpose. Because if Joseph was a good and
righteous man and participated in what was going
on, that's a contradiction. Right? even though
he had a duty to participate in the Sanhedrin,
even though he had a duty to show up for their
processes and things like that, if he participated
in that and crucified a righteous man, an innocent
man in Jesus, then that would be a contradiction.
So just hold on to that thought for a moment
and we'll come back to it. We're now in verse
52. This man went to Pilate and asked for the
body of Jesus. So what we now see happening here
is this good and righteous man who did not vote.
either voted against or did not vote in the choice
to crucify Jesus, goes and asks for Jesus' body.
Now this is problematic because whoever comes
and asks for Jesus' body to honor Jesus is putting
themselves in a line of fire. Okay? It could
be a disciple of Jesus. We already know that
the Jews made the argument that maybe they'll
steal his body. and fake his resurrection, because
he said he would come back to life, and it was
funny that the Jews recognized that, but he said,
maybe they'll steal his body and fake his resurrection.
So of course they're watching to see who comes
to claim Jesus' body, because if it's a disciple,
then they can deal with him. If it's somebody
that's going to continue to spread the message
of Jesus, then they can deal with him. So Joseph
sticking his neck out like that is significant.
So then we go on to verse 52. He went to Pilate
and asked for the body of Jesus, verse 53, and
he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth.
So he's not really preparing it for burial, but
he's giving it some respect. The linen cloth
is a significant thing. And he laid him in a
tomb cut into the rock where no one had ever
slain. You with me, Kishon? Can you repeat back
that last verse? Okay, I'll say it again. Okay,
here we go. And it was the prep... the preparation
day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Was
that it? No, it was not, actually. The first
I had just said was, and he took it down and
wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a
tomb cut into the rock where no one had ever
lain. That was the verse that we were on. Okay,
so we're paying attention now. We're all with
me, right? I might call you out. You never know.
Stranger things have happened. All right, the
point is, he's taking care of the body. He puts
him in the tomb. Now, elsewhere in the other,
this account, by the way, is present in all four
Gospels. We're just looking at one. But elsewhere
in the Gospel, we're told that that tomb actually
belonged to Joseph. That means Joseph was a wealthy
man. That means he had a lot to lose. You may
think you've got a lot to lose. He was a wealthy
man. He was also a ruler in the Sanhedrin. So
he was up in the ranks. Right? He had a public
reputation to be preserved. So that makes it
even more dangerous that he came out. And then
he puts the body of Jesus in his own tomb, a
tomb in which no one had ever been laid. This
is a matter of respect what he does here. The
body is not really properly prepared, but it's
a matter of respect. Now 54, and it was the preparation
day and the Sabbath was about to begin. So as
we talked about on the preparation day, there
were certain work that had to be completed before
the next day when their focus would be completely
on God. They couldn't harvest. They couldn't
go buy stuff at the store. They couldn't walk
longer than a certain distance. Now that's not
necessarily laid out in Scripture, but it was
part of their oral tradition. So in order to
follow the rules that the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin
had given them. Now who were they again? The
Pharisees and the Sanhedrin. Their leaders were
the Pharisees and Sadducees formed the Sanhedrin.
So in order to follow the Pharisees and the Sadducees
who were teaching everybody the rules. They had
to follow the rules and could only do so much
on the day before the Sabbath rest. Okay? So
Joseph of Arimathea, who was a good and righteous
man, had to follow the same rules. So if he wanted
to take care of this with Jesus, he couldn't
wait to the Sabbath. He had to do it now in preparation.
He had to take a risk. He had to step out. He
had to risk everything that he had and do it
now. So they go, they take Jesus' body, and they
put it in the tomb on the preparation day. 55.
Now the women who had come with him out of Galilee
followed after. So we've got these ladies. They've
come a long way. They've been following Jesus.
They've walked a lot. They've talked. They've
listened. They've sat at his feet. They understand.
They heard him say he would be crucified, buried,
and resurrected. They were present for the teachings
of Jesus. And they followed Joseph of Arimathea
as he moves his body to the tomb. Which means
now what? So this is a blessing for next Sunday
because it means they know where the tomb is.
They didn't accidentally go to another tomb.
They saw his body be placed in the tomb. The
women who had come with him out of Galilee followed
after and they saw the tomb and how his body
was laid. Then 56. And they returned. So the
women go back and they returned and prepared
spices and perfume. So this is all on the preparation
day. Not the Sabbath. This is work that they
could not have reasonably done on the Sabbath.
Okay? So on the preparation day, they prepared
the spices and the perfumes. And it says, on
the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment.
Okay? So they followed the rules. Now, the oral
traditions that were added on, things like if
you came to the end of the Sabbath and found
a pin in your garment that you worked all day
and you needed to repent, you were unclean, that's
not biblical. Exactly how many steps you're allowed
to take on the Sabbath day, that's not actually
biblical. You're just told that you're not allowed
to work. You're supposed to honor God on the
Sabbath. The day that you mark out to honor God
needs to be about honoring God. And so anything
additional would have been sin. If they prepared
the spices on the Sabbath, that would have been
sin. You understand? All right. So there's a
number of things to see throughout this text.
And I have them. I tried to order them the best
I could to try to make the most sense for me,
whether it does for you or not. And if only one
of them jumps out at you and makes a life -changing
sense, then we'll be doing really great, okay?
So the first of those is to notice that Jesus
is the true Passover lamb. Regardless of whether
he was slain at the same time as the representative
Passover lambs, which they slew every year during
the Passover, right? We talked about what that
represents. Whether that was done on the preparation
day or not, he was slain for the sins of mankind.
He is the lamb to end all lambs and takes away
the sin of the world. Now, you read this text
that we just read and you're like, I don't necessarily
know that I get that out of the text, right?
You can hear them in these texts. I'm just giving
you snippets here, but you can hear them in these
texts and you can study more on it if you want.
In 1 Peter 3, 18 to 19, it says, with the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. So this verse, which I just
read a part of it to you, ties directly to the
Passover requirements. Lambs had to be perfect,
had to have no defect. And Jesus fulfills that
as a sinless and pure sacrifice. A final once
and for all sacrifice. In Hebrews 9, 12, and
26, and again I'm just giving you pieces, by
his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place having obtained eternal redemption. He
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself, it says in 26. So this sacrifice was
not repeated like the Old Testament sacrifices.
There won't be another Jesus coming to sacrifice
himself. It's just one time. And the Old Testament
sacrifices don't need to be repeated anymore
because Jesus took care of it. It's done. One
sacrifice completely sufficient. Then substitution
clearly explains, 2 Corinthians 5 .21 says, for
he, that's Jesus, I'm sorry, that's God, hath
made him, that's Jesus, to be sin for us who
knew no sin. This shows that Jesus was sinless,
yet he takes our place to bear the sins. Christ
is our Passover lamb, 1 Corinthians 5 .7, for
even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
Now that's pretty blunt, isn't it? So we're getting
the idea that Jesus Christ was the once and for
all sacrifice and the Passover lamb. This directly
connects Jesus to Passover. Directly. There's
no question that Jesus is the Passover lamb.
Just like the lamb protected Israel from judgment,
Jesus' sacrifice saves us from God's wrath. Let
me give you one more, in case you're thinking
the end of the story might somehow be different.
Revelation 5 .12. Worthy is the lamb that was
slain. That's the song in heaven. That's the
chant, if you will. Worthy is the lamb that was
slain. Even in eternity and for all time, Jesus
will always be identified as the lamb, the one
slain for redemption. There is no question. It's
a textual proof. I get that. But if you're a
Christian and you're in the room, that should
be easy for you. But even then, realize that
those writers are multiple different people from
multiple different societies, and it's all pulled
together, one theme, Jesus Christ proven to be
the once and for all sacrificial lamb. They were
waiting on that. They were waiting for a sacrificial
lamb that would solve it. I mean, you can't just
keep killing lambs every year forever, right?
That's not good enough. And they also knew that
a month after they killed the lamb, that they
had sinned. We kind of knew that, right? Let
him who has no sin cast the first stone. And
how many Pharisees and high priests were still
standing there after Jesus said that? No, they
all walked away. We all know that we have sin.
Inherently, you know that you've done things
that God would not appreciate, that God would
not send you to do. So, we know what waiting
for the kingdom of God is like. The kingdom of
God is that person, place, and thing in which
God reigns, right? And this is, remember, Joseph
was waiting for the kingdom of God. So we know
what that feels like. If you're here and you're
a Christian, if you accepted Jesus Christ as
your Lord and Savior, you realize like in the
world, things are not going great. Politicians
not making great decisions, local governors,
police, criminals, our family members sometimes,
your brother, your sister, your kids, people
are not making great decisions. I mean, there's
an old saying that says the world's going to
hell in a handbasket. And was there ever a truer
saying? I mean, it's pretty clear that there's
a lot of bad stuff going on in the world. And
yet I am waiting expectantly for the next coming
of Christ at which all that will be done. I think
back to Uncle Tom's Cabin. Uncle Tom's Cabin
was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Abraham
Lincoln would later call her the woman who started
the Civil War, the little woman who wrote the
book that started the Civil War. And at the end
of that book, Uncle Tom is a slave, and he's
laying on a barge, and he's being shipped down
the river toward the Gulf of Mexico, and he doesn't
believe he'll ever be back. He believes he'll
die there. He's going to a slave master who is
known to kill slaves over time, to work them
to death, literally, and he thinks he won't live.
And he's laying on the barge at the end of that
book, and he's crying. He's weeping. He's bawling
like a baby. He's a big dude, strong, and he's
bawling like a baby. And Harriet Beecher Stowe
writes this. She says, but he's not crying for
himself. He's not crying for being separated
from his family. He'll never see his wife or
kids again because he had a wife and kids who
were also in slavery. He'll never see them again.
He's not crying for the pain that he had suffered.
But he was crying realizing that the people around
him would never know the satisfaction, the joy,
or the eternal life of dying and going to heaven.
That he was going to go down there and his death
was assured and after he died, he would spend
eternity in heaven while they spent eternity
in hell. And that concept was enough to wake
up a nation. And the Civil War maybe didn't begin
specifically because of that book. But the idea
is still present. We know what it's like to wait
for the kingdom of God amidst difficulty and
troubles when details do not line up. We know
what it means to... let that waiting drive our
actions. If you're a Christian and you don't
know what it means to let I'm waiting on Jesus
drive your actions, I want you to rethink. That's
what it means to repent. You rethink your life.
Tomorrow, when you get out of bed, if Jesus is
coming again tomorrow, which is entirely possible,
then what should your tomorrow morning look like?
And that's the kind of life you need to lead.
You need to lead the life that is waiting on
the kingdom of God to come in fullness. While
it already exists inside you, are you a person
in whom Jesus lives? Because if so, what does
that house look like? What are the actions that
are driven by the fact that we know that the
kingdom of God is coming in fullness and in fact
is already present in me, in you, and in the
space between us as the church? Like Joseph of
Arimathea, we know what it means to let our expectations
of the kingdom of God drive our actions, and
here it is, even at cost. Jesus said, count the
cost. Does a man begin to build a large structure
or take an army out against another army without
considering whether he may complete the structure
or defeat the army? No, that's foolishness, that
all may mock him. Some years ago, Sherry and
I went up to Frankenmuth and walked over there
in Frankenmuth in Michigan. While we were there,
we took a little ride down the river. They have
a ride down the river, and you can hear about
the history of the town. And on the side of the
town, there's a mill, the foundation of a mill,
and the beginnings of the walls of the mill.
And the man who began to build the mill, a beautiful
structure made of beautiful block stone, who
began to build it, ran out of money before he
could finish it. And on that boat ride, still,
it's been a hundred years since he started building
that mill. A hundred years. They still mention
his name every time you ride down the river.
They still talk about how he foolishly decided
to build a building. And didn't have enough money
to complete it. Jesus said, you want to follow
me? Count the cost. And we fully understand what
it means to expect the kingdom of God to come
in its fullness at any moment. And to let that
drive our actions at any cost. Are you wealthy?
Your wealth might be the cost. Are you healthy?
Your health might be the cost. Are you smart?
Your smarts might be the cost. Are you in a loving
relationship with another person? Your loving
relationship might be the cost. What could the
cost be? Well, we're ready to pay that cost,
whatever it is, because we are living in expectation
of the kingdom of God. Notice that that parenthetical
statement about Joseph, he was a good and righteous
man, it said, but he was not consenting to the
crucifixion of Christ. And I submit to you, if
you lived in Jesus' day, in order to be a good
and righteous man, you would have had to not
be consenting to the crucifixion of Jesus. That's
a real problem for the crowd. Shouted crucify
him, crucify him, isn't it? Because that means
amongst that crowd there were two kinds of people.
The unrighteous and the righteous wrong. That's
it. And in the church I submit to you that there
are two kinds of people. The unrighteous. And
the righteous wrong. There are people who call
themselves the church and Christians, but they're
not living for the Lord. They're not inherently
good. There's not something changing them from
the inside out that makes them want to be gentle,
kind, patient. Do you recognize those words?
They practice self -control. Do you recognize
those words? They have faith, hope, and love.
Do you recognize those words? We are meant to
be good. And if you're a Christian, you're meant
to be good. And if you're not good, then you're
either a Christian who's not good or not a Christian.
Those are your options. Who we are matters in
world events. People are looking. Our church
calls itself a house on a hill. People are looking
to see what we'll do. Will we stay the course?
Will we make a difference? Will we make hard
efforts when only efforts that can matter are
hard efforts? Physicians matter to the world.
Works matter to the world. Character matters
to the world. We're talking this week, talking
with a young man who's got a great opportunity.
And I said, you know what? Integrity will always
win the day. If you have integrity, integrity
will sell. People will buy your integrity so
that you don't have it anymore. A little bribe,
a little temptation, a little distraction, a
little opportunity to do something other than
that which you're supposed to do. And they'll
make it beneficial to you to choose that over
what you would choose if you stuck with your
integrity. But people will buy your integrity
if you keep it. Because they need people. They
need people that they can trust. They need people
that will work, that won't quit, that don't give
up, that don't struggle with the first heartbeat
that goes awry. If you have integrity, you're
valuable to the world because it's a rare commodity.
These things are discernible to reputation and
word of mouth, but understand that there is something
more going on for us. When you go into heaven,
it will not matter whether or not the guy that
you bought your gas from thinks you're a good
person or not. It will not matter whether your
teacher thinks you are the best student in the
class or not, or your boss thinks you're promotable
or should make more money. None of that is going
to matter. What's going to matter is what God
knows about you. We were traveling down to Tennessee
to see my parents, and on the way down, we stopped
at Walmart to pick up a couple of things that
we had forgotten. And while we were there, Sherry
picked out a book off the bookshelf. They used
to have the front of Walmart. They used to have
these big area books. Now they kind of do it
differently. They used to have these big area
books up there. She picked out a paperback book.
I think it was $3 .99. I think the book was $3
.99. So we were carrying a bunch of stuff. We
hadn't thought we were going to buy very much,
so we didn't get a cart. So I was carrying stuff,
and we had a bunch of kids with us because we've
done that. We've produced a bunch of kids. And
so we were carrying all this stuff under our
arms, me and the kids and Sherry, and we're carrying
it. Well, I put the book in my armpit right here
because that was convenient. It was smaller than
this Bible right here, and it was under my armpit.
And we went to the register, and we paid for
everything, and we left, and we got out to the
car. And when we got out to the car, I took the
book out from underneath my armpit, and I stuck
it between the seats, and we drove about 25 miles
down the road. And then it occurred to me what
I had done, just like it probably occurred to
you what I had done. We didn't pay for the book.
We paid for everything else. We didn't pay for
the book. We stole the book, a paperback book
for $3 .99. We're 25 miles down the road toward
my parents' house. So then we started talking
about it. We're like, let's problem solve here.
How are we going to solve this problem? We don't
steal books. That's not a thing we do. I said,
well, get off at the next exit. We'll drive back
and pay for it. That's 25 miles back to Walmart.
And then 25 miles back, we're 50 miles out of
our way. That's costing us more in gas and wear
and tear in the car than what the book was worth.
I said, so maybe that's not the best solution.
So we go driving just a little bit more. We're
talking about it. And we're definitely not going
to not pay for it. So I said, well, we could
wait and pay for it. We're going to my parents
for four days. On the way back, we can stop at
that Walmart on the way back and pay for it.
And I thought, I said, well, that's not a great
solution because we could forget. We could miss
the exit. I'm not sure we would remember for
sure where the Walmart is at, right? There's
a lot of problems out of that. So then we're
driving a little bit more, and then we see a
Walmart on an exit. And I said, you know what?
It's all Walmart. Get off here. So we get off
at Walmart. We walk in. We go to the customer
service desk, and I walk up to the customer service
desk with the book in my hands, and I say to
the lady, I say, I'm here to pay for this book.
And she said, well, you can just take it through
the register. And I said, well, I can, but I
need a little help. I said, the problem is, I
want to pay for this book, but I didn't get it
from this Walmart. We got it from a Walmart about
30 miles up the road. So I need you to take my
money and then send them my money. And she said,
what? I said, are you crazy? And I said, no,
I don't steal. I said, I'm a follower of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I don't steal anything. And
I accidentally stole this book, and now I need
to pay for the book. So she says, Hey, I forget
her name. Like, hey, Mary, come here. And she
calls Mary over, and she says, so this guy is
here. He wants to, and she says, does he have
his receipt? She goes, no, no, no. He wants to
pay for this book that he accidentally stole
from a Walmart up the road. Mary says, just a
second. She goes over and knocks on the inner
office door. She says, Bob, Bob, come out here.
So suddenly I'm a three -headed goat standing
at the customer service counter. Now there are
other people standing in line waiting to be waited
on and now they're all getting testy with me
because I have the weird request that's going
to take the most time. It's going to make the
line take the most time. Like I wrote a check
and couldn't figure out how to write my name
or something, right? And so they're all getting
a little irritated. But at the same time, they're
at the zoo too. They're like, this is cool. What's
going to happen here, right? So the long and
the short of it was after they first refused,
they got a manager and he took my money and they
agreed to forward the money. They first refused.
The entire committee and all the people in line
agreed that I should not be allowed to pay for
the book that I accidentally stole at Walmart
30 miles up the road. Then we got a manager involved
and the manager finally agreed. And the manager
said, well, I'll walk you over to the register.
So he walked me over to the register. We paid
for the book at the register. And then he said,
thank you very much. He said, I've never done
that. I've worked for Walmart for 20 years and
I've never seen this before. And I see, I kind
of got that. Right? And the people who were at
the counter were still giving me dirty looks
as they were being helped at the counter as I
was leaving after paying for the book. Listen
to me. I did not do that for the people at Walmart.
I don't know them. Bob or Mary or whatever the
heck their names are. I don't even remember their
names for sure. I don't know them. But this is
a true event that took place in my life. But
I did it and this is why. 1 Corinthians 4 .9
says this. He says, For I think God has exhibited
us apostles and you can submit your name there
if you want. Last of all, as men condemned to
death, because we have become, and here it is,
a spectacle to the world, both to angels and
men. If you get nothing else out of today's sermon,
I want you to understand that what's watching
you, what's depending on your choice to do the
right thing, It's not your family, although they
surely are. It's not your kids, although they
surely are. It's not the police. They might write
you a ticket or not, although they surely are
watching. And they must. That's their jobs, right?
But what's watching you is nothing less than
every angel. Every spiritual being in the spiritual
realms. You think, well, they can't see me. They're
somewhere far away. That's not how it works in
the spiritual realms. Right? People who live
in Africa, they can't see you right now. Even
if you were on Facebook, they probably couldn't
see you because technology is not that good.
The point is, the angels can see you. And you
have become a spectacle to the world. That's
everybody that doesn't know Jesus and to the
angels. Therefore, your actions must come in
line, whatever the cost, with your expectation
of the kingdom of God or there is a debate. There
becomes a contrast. And parenthetically, they
should be able to say, That Dan, that Pastor
Dan, that guy from New Heights, Toledo, he wasn't
consenting when that book was stolen. He wasn't
consenting. He wasn't consenting. He's not in
on it. He's not with it. He's not for it. They
should know. Somebody asks whether or not you
would do it and it's a sin, they should already
be able to say, I don't think so. I mean, I don't
know whether to trust people or not. Lots of
people sin all the time. People I wouldn't expect
all the time like that. But I'm pretty sure that
guy, he's different. That girl, she's different.
Will she be there when she said she'd be there?
Yeah, she'll be there. Unless her being there
will hurt somebody because she wouldn't do that.
Ephesians 3 .10 says it this way. It says, so
that the manifold wisdom of God. Let's be sure
we understand what's at stake here. Because you
can tell people about the Bible. You can buy
people Bibles. In fact, I would encourage you
to do that. If you know somebody that needs to
know about God, buy them a Bible. You can do
it for a buck and a quarter, I think it's at
right now, with a dollar and a quarter tree,
right? Buy them a Bible. But definitely don't
stop there. Tell them what you know. But definitely
don't stop there because it says the manifold
wisdom of God might now be made known through
the church to the, listen to this, rulers and
authorities in the heavenly places. Then what's
in charge? Other than God, He already knows.
But everybody that's got power and authority
under God is waiting for you and me to... to
disclose to them the manifold wisdom of God.
That's what's at stake. Do not think that you
can give them a Bible or tell them about Jesus
and they'll come to Christ and get saved and
know how to live for the Lord if you're not going
to live for the Lord in front of them. You are
the linchpin. You are the key. You are the one
who can make known the love of Christ that someone
died on the cross and you personally experienced
it. Can you verbally explain to somebody what
happened to you when you got saved? Like, oh
yeah, I was sitting in the chairs and the pastor
preached and I was like, yeah, that's me. I think
I need to do that. And I walked forward and we
said a little prayer and then we told everybody
and then I got dunked in the water and ever since
then I've been teaching Sunday school. No, something
happens when people get saved. Their minds are
changed. They get a new heart. I explain that.
Go to a lost person who's really lost, suffering,
really struggling and try to tell them what it
felt like. for you to get saved. What adjectives
are you going to use? Our job is to live in front
of the world and angels and the authorities and
rulers and the heavenly places as if we are expecting
the kingdom of God so that they may see in a
lifelong testimony maybe, step after step after
step, so that they may see what that actually
looks like. So they can begin to understand what
it actually means to be born again, even though
you can't really explain it. But your life, collectively,
our lives can. The next one is this. You don't
have to yield. We see Joseph's example beautifully.
And that is, you don't have to yield to pressures.
And you're going to get some. Every time I just
saw a video, well, I had the flu. I was down
on my back on Friday. Just went real short, which
was a blessing. But while I was down, I watched
a bunch of faith and some of you guys' videos
and stuff like that if you're an Instagram user.
And that's because, like you got like five of
them. I apologize if I blew up your phone, but
I was watching faith -based videos online while
I was sick. I watched an entire Bible. I watched
the entire book of James in Bible study on RightNow
Media, which you can do for free because our
church provides that. I watched the entire book
of James in RightNow Media while I was sick.
And I was going to do another book, but then
I was kind of like tired of looking at the TV.
So I was looking for other things to do. And
I wound up on my phone watching faith -based
videos. And one of the videos I saw was a girl,
17 years old. And she said, I'm actively being
excluded from everything that everyone in my
life does. My family is not followers of Christ.
My friends outside the church don't want anything
to do with me. I'm no longer invited to parties.
I'm not brought in on the secrets. I'm not hip
to all the sassy, nasty memes that are on social
media anymore. I don't talk like they talk anymore.
And so now, if it weren't for the church, I'd
be kind of lonely. And then the video ends with
her in youth group with 15 other teenagers who
feel the same way, except they don't, because
the church is the church together. It's time
we remembered world events, positions, works,
character. It all matters. Reputation, it matters.
But it matters not because you're going to get
ahead or because it's going to make things easier
for you. It matters because people are watching
you. And they're watching you to see if you're
really believing, really expecting Jesus to come
again, then are you going to actually live that
way? And when you face those pressures, are you
going to let the past define you? Or let the
risk dissuade you? Modern counseling, if you
go to a counselor to deal with your mental health
concerns, incorporates... discussing triggers,
they will help you try to figure out what's in
your past that's blowing up your present. That's
what they do. And it works. It's pretty effective.
The idea of what they do is they say, well, tell
me a story from your childhood. And then they
get you to rate it. On a 7, does that hurt? How
do you feel about that? On a scale of 1 to 10.
Is that a 7? You know, how do you feel about
what your dad said to you when you were 12? And
they'll get like a bunch of stories. You have
like 20, 30 stories. And eventually they find
triggers. What's upsetting you? And then they,
how much is upsetting you? And then they give
you coping mechanisms for how to lower your numbers.
It's a seven. It's upsetting you terribly. How
do you get it down to a three? Is it a three?
Is it when it's a zero, you're like completely
healed, right? That's, that's how it works. That's
the process. And it's not a bad process, except
this is how Jesus actually does it. Jesus not
only lessens the impact, according to the Bible,
all old things have passed away. So while we're
working on making them pass away, we have to
remember that in actuality, wait for it, they
have actually already passed away. So while you're
saying, what my dad said to me when I was 10
really hurt me, what my brother did to me when
I was 12 really hurt me, what happened to me
when I was 21 really hurt me, while you're doing
that, you need to remember, if you become a born
-again Christian, then none of that can actually
touch you anymore. Because you're not even the
same person anymore. If there's a dead body laying
on the ground in the hallway and somebody comes
in and stomps on its head, that is an injustice.
It is wrong. But he doesn't know it. He's dead.
He's either in heaven or he's in hell and he
doesn't care if you stomp on his head anymore.
It's still wrong. It's disrespect. But it doesn't
matter. And that's who we were before we were
born again, brought to life. The things that
we experienced as a dead person, they really
don't matter now because we have a new life in
Christ. That's why Jesus said count the cost
up front because one of the costs is you need
to surrender your personal rebellion even unto
death. You could have to be crucified. I hope
not for any of us. But that could happen and
it did happen. It happened to the disciples.
It has happened. It's happened. It happened this
week. There are two countries in the world right
now. where Christians are being buried in mass
graves because they will not recant believing
in Jesus Christ. Now, what happened to you? You
still get to get up tomorrow, pick what you're
going to eat, shop at the grocery store, use
your hot water that comes on every time you turn
the faucet, and no one's going to kill you before
you go to sleep tomorrow night for being a follower
of Jesus, at least probably not, 99 .9 % likely.
But tomorrow, again, in both of those countries,
they will bury more Christians in mass graves
because they will not recant. And it is illegal
to be a Christian in those countries. But you
see, they aren't afraid of it. And they're still
not recanting. Because when they accepted Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior, when they came to
the moment of their rebirth, they actually experienced
that rebirth. And they began to believe and await
for the coming of the kingdom of God in its fullness.
And to recant... would be to say, I don't believe.
I don't believe in what I actually felt. I don't
believe that I'm actually made new. I don't believe
that he's actually going to come again when they
know in their soul, in their heart of hearts,
that that's the truth. They would be lying. And
they won't lie. They would rather die and go
straight to heaven than live the life of a rebel
on earth and go straight to hell. I don't blame
them. I think it seems like a pretty good choice.
And I think it's what Jesus wanted from us. He
asked us then to count the cost. I'm asking you,
did you count the cost? If you counted the cost
and you're looking, then you don't have to yield
to pressures or let the past define you or let
the risk of what you're asked to do or what the
results might be dissuade you from taking steps.
Joseph of Arimathea did not. And he was a good
and righteous man who was waiting for the kingdom
of God. And that is what we are called to be,
good and righteous humans. Waiting for the kingdom
of God. That brings us essentially to our conclusion.
Commitment. Faithfulness. Doing what you said
you would do. Taking the next steps in whatever
you're called to. These things shine. I've been
there. I've been there at moments when I was
driving to church going, Lord, I don't think
I can do this anymore. I don't think I can keep
preaching. Keep studying the word every Sunday
and stand up in front of my family, my friends,
brothers and sisters in Christ and preach the
word and feel like I'm not a... When my grandsons
are falling asleep in the back of the room and
I realize I have failed to deliver the gospel
effectively to the teenagers in my own family,
I have to question myself. You think I don't?
You think that what you're doing doesn't affect
the people around you? You don't show up for
worship on Sunday morning and sometimes it's
because people are sick and you shouldn't come
if you have a fever, diarrhea, or vomiting because
you'll just make somebody else sick. I get that.
You think that doesn't affect anybody? When we
sing, that 12 of us that actually sing or whatever
out of 30 people in the room, you think that
the other 18 people aren't having an impact?
They sure are. What you are doing impacts people.
Commitment shines. Faithfulness shines. When
you don't show up, to do the ministry that you
committed to. Or when somebody walks by you and
they're clearly depressed and they're struggling
or whatever it is, and you don't take the time
to talk to them about God or Jesus Christ, you
think that doesn't say anything? If there's a
human being and they're teetering on the edge
of being saved, you can bet there's a cluster
of angels grabbed around them trying to lead
them to the right place. And you have family
members like that. You have people that... Worldly,
right? Worldly, but love you and you love them.
And if you love them the way Christ loved them,
then you're not showing up to say the right thing,
do the right thing. And that moment of time is
just like you spitting in the face of the very
Jesus who died on the cross for us. So when I
feel that way, I feel like maybe it's gone far
enough. But here's the problem. God told me what
to do. And every time I feel like I... Feel like
I just want to quit, give up, whatever. God says,
I didn't let you off. You can let yourself off
if you want, but I didn't let you off. I've told
you what you have to do. So why are we having
this conversation again for the 30th time, God
says. And I said, well, there's something in
me, Lord. And I know what the word says. The
word says repent. So I turn to God again and
he fills me with strength and my car winds up
in the parking lot and I preach the next sermon.
I deal with the next problem, whatever it is.
I'm being realistic here because I understand
some of you is the same way. Some of you have
seen it. It's hard. It's hard to be found doing
what it is that God would have you to do when
your body is struggling or your mind is struggling
or your finances are struggling, your relationships,
whatever it is. Right? It's hard. But commitment
and faithfulness shines in a way. That the harder
it gets, the brighter it shines. You understand?
So you can be transparent about how hard it is.
In fact, I would highly recommend that. The next
time that you push through a wall of luck that's
10 foot thick and dark and you can't see and
step out on the other side and start doing what
it is that God has you to do, I want you to tell
everybody about that wall. You say, it was hard
for me today. I pushed through. But I give God
all the glory. See, what people do is they push
through to get to the other side and they're
so exuberant, so excited, like, yay, look at
me, I'm here and I'm a follower of Jesus and
it's wonderful and I'm not bothered by anything
and I won't be, my feathers will be unruffled
every single day. It's all water off a duck's
back because I'm not facing any real difficulty
because Jesus took it all and we live like that.
And then that makes other Christians, when they
hit the wall, go, why me? And that's not real.
What's real is life is difficult. Life is challenging.
Life can mean crucifixion. It can mean disease.
It can mean dying in an earthquake or a car accident
or getting a bullet in the brain. Life can be
like that. The question is, knowing that life
can be like that, can you nonetheless accept
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and do what
he's asked you to do? And if you stay the course,
the world may write down your name. You may become
historic. There was a woman named Mary who broke
a jar of perfume and wiped it with her hair on
Jesus' feet at dinner one time. And the disciples
were questioning, that's not weird. That's a
weird thing. And Judas was all upset because
she could have sold that for money and put the
money in the coffers and taken care of a lot
of poor people. It was very expensive. But we
really find out in the Scripture that he was
only really upset because then if she had done
that, then he could have stole some of the money.
A lot of times when people are trying to tell
you not to do what it is that God wants you to
do is because they have their own personal motivations
that have nothing to do with Jesus. Anyway, Jesus
said, what she's done here today, it will not
be forgotten. Now it's almost 2 ,000 years later
and you know her name. Don't you? It's Mary.
Not his mother. It's Mary. And she wiped perfume
with her hair on Jesus' feet. And Jesus said
she will never be forgotten. In the midst of
time when they were going to crucify Jesus, there
was a man. He was a wealthy man. He was part
of the Sanhedrin. Now, probably nothing was ever
written about him because he was just a part
of the Sanhedrin. He was just a guy. And there
wasn't just a few. There was a couple dozen guys
in the Sanhedrin. Maybe his name would have never
gone down in history. But he had heard the teachings
of Jesus. He'd counted the cost. And then while
Jesus was still hanging on the cross, he thought,
well, I really should do something about this.
So he got up and he went to Pilate and he asked
for Jesus' body and then he wrapped him in a
linen cloth and laid him in his very own tomb
where a body never had been laid. He respected
the Son of God, God the Son, Jesus Christ, when...
Maybe nobody else could. And you know his name.
You live almost 2 ,000 years later and you know
his name. Not only that, but there are over 25
,000 extant texts. Julius Caesar is something
like, I don't know the number, but it's maybe
1 ,000 to 2 ,000 texts from his era that even
talk about him, that he even existed. And this
guy. From the era of his living, there are 25
,000 plus extant texts, texts that have survived
that say Joseph of Arimathea. See, the world
may write down your name, but here's the incredible
thing. That doesn't mean anything. That's not
the goal. It's not that they'll write down your
name and keep track of who you were, that you'll
exist with a legacy on earth, but rather that
your name would be written in the Lamb's Book
of Life. That matters. And that happened the
day you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
You counted the cost. You said, whatever he wants
from me, it's all in for him. I put it all on
the table. I put it all in. And then when I'm
sick, I'm still all in. And when I'm hurting,
I'm still all in. When my mental health isn't
right, I'm still all in. When my money doesn't
seem to line up with me being able to give or
do what I'm supposed to do, I'm still all in.
When somebody wants me to do something, I'm still
all in. Better I follow Jesus than live another
day if I have to choose between the two. Joseph
of Arimathea did not allow. The things of his
past. His own nervousness or scaredness or fear
of what they might do to him to stop him from
taking the body down. Which is a horrible task.
Wrapping it in a simple linen cloth and putting
it in a tomb. And he did all of that because
he was a good and righteous man who was waiting
for the kingdom of God. And what I see before
me are people who have every possibility, every
potential to be good and righteous men and women.
who are waiting for the kingdom of God. If your
name has been written in the Lamb's book of life,
that's all that matters. The Lamb has been sacrificed.
The best we can offer to God is not our all.
We say that a lot, don't we? There's a great
story about a kid who went to church and he loved
the Lord Jesus and he passed the offering plate.
When the offering plate came around, he didn't
have any money to put in the offering plate.
So he sat it on the floor and then stood in the
offering plate. And they said, what are you doing?
And he says, I don't have any money, but to Jesus
I give my all. And we think, man, our all, that's
it. If we can give our all, that's the best we
can offer. But that isn't it. Your all is not
the best you can offer. Jesus is literally the
best you can offer. Jesus is what you can bring
to every problem. Jesus is what you can bring
into any person's life who will listen. Jesus
is what you can bring into your own life. Jesus
is what you can submit to. Jesus, the Lamb of
God who is spotless and without blemish. I was
not that. I still am not that. The only righteousness
and innocence I truly have is found in Jesus
Christ and it is enough. And where I go, He goes.
And that is what you bring. If you know Jesus,
If you know how special He is, then you know
you cannot fail. And there is nothing more that
you have to do. It's all been taken care of.
Your eternity is settled. At the same time, if
you know Jesus is enough, then you know that
you cannot truly fail in everything that God
has given you to do. And Ephesians 2 .10 says
that there are works that are set aside for us
to do. You cannot fail. If you would set out
to do the things and pitch yourself and truly
put yourself on the line to do the things that
God would have you do, you cannot fail. Even
if you fail, you don't fail. Why? Because your
commitment, your faithfulness, and your unwillingness
to stop will speak volumes to the world and to
the angels and to the demons and every ruler
and authority in the spiritual realms. And that's
what's really at stake, that the manifold wisdom
of God would be displayed to any and all. People
that you can never get an appointment with will
nonetheless experience it. Along the way, you
will have temptations. You notice that the ladies
did not go and prepare the body on the Sabbath.
because that would have been sin. You say, but
it's the Son of God. Surely if you're doing something
for Jesus, then sin would be okay, right? We
can break that rule. Jesus said, the Sabbath
is for man, not man for the Sabbath. So that
means that you can do certain things on the Sabbath.
So they should have been able to honor Jesus,
right? But they knew better. Can't honor Jesus
and sin at the same time. Because Jesus said,
he who loves me will follow the commands of my
father. And one of the commands of my father
is to honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
So they knew better than to try to honor Jesus
by sinning against him. And so should we. When
you discover sin in your life, you repent of
it. You turn to God and say, let's put that behind
me. Wherever you go, you take Jesus with you
and you display him there. And let people say,
that guy's weird. That gal, I don't quite understand
her. She's making decisions that don't line up
with what the world would necessarily do. Why
is she so ready? Why is she so ready? Why is
she so prepared? Why is he so prepared? I'll
tell you why. Because today is the preparation
day.