Please now turn with me to John chapter 19. John chapter 19. As I entered into the worship this morning, I sensed a somberness that had set over this congregation. Unusual. But I believe it may be that the Spirit of God is quieting our hearts and bringing us into the situation that we're gonna be addressing in the message this morning, and that is the death of Christ, the burial of Christ. There's this quiet time as we go through Friday afternoon to Friday night into Saturday, and then, of course, eventually to Sunday morning. But right now, we are right in the middle of the death and the burial of our Savior, Jesus. So there is something of a somberness about this time But there's also something to learn from this passage. So let's rise together and quietly hear John 19, verses 38 through 42. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him permission, so he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden, a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews, preparation day for the tomb was nearby. Amen. Please be seated. So, it's happened. It happened. The death of Christ, the darkness, the earthquake, Remember the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom? It happened. And the world as it is sits in a stunned silence as we come to the burial of Jesus. Again, the very Son of God was killed by man and died for man's sin. So that's what happens. It happened. The Son of God, the eternal beloved Son of the Father came down to earth, died on the cross for man's sin. It happened. And no other event compares with this. No other religious narrative is worth talking about. And all the false religions understand this. There's nothing, even unbelievers will acknowledge this. There's no event, there's no concept, there's no action of a god or the gods in any polytheistic or other type of religion that can compare with this event. The Son of God died. The creator of the world was killed by the men he created so that he could save them from their sins. That's what happened here. So let's think about the significance of the event. Don't forget the significance of what happened here at Calvary. So it happens. It's done. But now let's look at these verses as these men, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, prepare the body of Jesus for burial. First of all, symbolism. Don't miss the symbolism in Scripture. Now, there's a temptation sometimes to make the symbolism the be-all and end-all of all of Scripture, and we can't do that. There's more to Scripture than symbolism. It's easy for people to set one thing against another, the imperative against the indicative and all the rest. We don't do that. We bring it all in. We look at it all. We take the whole Bible, every word, every verse, and we squeeze it for whatever's there for us. And here in this passage, we get some symbolism. It's so important. I think it's encouraging. It's important for us to meditate upon the symbolism. Did you catch the symbolism there in verse 41? Let me read it for you. Now, in the place where He was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden, there was a tomb. Did you catch it? Significant. Again, grab it, run with it, meditate upon it. It's a symbolism that's critical. Well, where else in the Word of God might we find a garden? You remember? There are gardens in Scripture. Where else? See, this is the way you handle symbolism in the Bible. So you say, oh, there's a garden. So hopefully you didn't pass over 41 when you read this, right? So you say, now, okay, where is there a garden in the Bible? Well, does anybody remember Adam? Adam was created and placed in a garden. He was the first man. He was the first of human life. Adam is created. Adam is placed in the garden. And then, do you remember what happened? Adam was tested in the garden. Remember that? And he died in the garden. Spiritually. Adam was tested. He failed. He died in the garden. So everything started out in a garden. And Adam failed in the garden. He was given life in the garden, he died in the garden, because he failed the test in the garden. Now, remember that the Lord Jesus is the second Adam. He is Adam 2.0, so to speak. So, Jesus was tested in the garden. Do you remember that? He was tested in the garden of Gethsemane. And then here we find, in John 19, that he is buried in the garden as well. Now, when you put a seed into the garden, what happens to the seed in the garden? Does anybody, Neil Brinley understands this? He has a garden, he tells me about his garden every Sunday, practically. You plant a seed in the garden, and what happens to the dead seed in the garden? It springs into new life. It's amazing how a dead seed can turn into something beautiful and yield some amazing fruit that we ourselves have enjoyed many times. This is what we eat every day, the fruit that God gives us in our gardens. Well, Jesus also not only was tested in the garden of Gethsemane, but here Jesus is buried in the garden, He's resurrected in the garden, and He is the first fruits of those who rose from the dead. He's the new life. He's the new creation. So, brethren, this is highly significant, because you see, when Adam fell, Adam died. Adam transferred this funeral and this huge cemetery around the entire world, so people are dead everywhere. There's deadness all over the place. But in Jesus, there's a new creation. There's this new man. We are effectively man, not 1.1, You see the difference between 1.1 and 2.0? Everybody know the difference? Computer guys, you know the difference between 1.1 and 2.0? This is man, 2.0. This is the new man, this new creation, vastly improved, and we are incorporated into Christ, and we are the new creatures in Christ. Hallelujah. Now let's move on to Joseph Arimathea Nicodemus. This passage brings out these two characters. The first time we've ever seen Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus. And Nicodemus has shown up twice in the book of John, John chapter 3, John chapter 11. John chapter 11, he entered into discussion the Sanhedrin and he cautioned them not to convict a man outside of witnesses. So he did his best to try to defend Jesus in the court of the Sanhedrin. But now here we are in John 19, and Nicodemus shows up one more time. Now, I want to talk about fear, because the fear of man. Here we see that Joseph Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus. He had a fear of the Jews. He asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. We also read there in verse 39 that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. Remember in John chapter 3, now here he is. at three o'clock in the afternoon. So we see something of a transition here from fear to faith. That's why I want to spend some time and look at this matter of fear. There was an environment of fear going on at this time. There's no question about it. Joseph and Nicodemus, they feared the Jews, and the disciples had already become afraid. They run away. Jesus had cautioned them that Satan was going to come, that this was going to be a time of great temptation, and he cautioned his disciples to be on their game, because the satanic temptation was coming. And, you know, Satan does come, and the environment of fear is set, often by Satan. Satan is good at fear, and I think people respond to fear often. They become afraid of the sins of their brothers and sisters, and they run away from their brothers and sisters. They become afraid of satanic temptations, or they become afraid of some aspect of the influence of the persecuting force of man upon them. Whatever it is, Satan seems to be able to just inspire this fear on people, and certainly that happened to disciples. And wherever the true church exists, I think there will be these satanic temptations to fear. We have faced this ourselves in this congregation. And that's why I don't think we should say this would never, ever affect us because it does affect us. Satanists on a full-court press in this church wherever the true church is engaging the the ideas and calling men and women to repentance or bringing the gospel of Jesus to bear and wherever there's you know ministry going on active ministry based in the Word of God going on Satan is going to show up and he's gonna do his best to inspire fear an environment of fear in the church and this is what happened in at this time, there's no question that there was fear all over the place. And recognize this not to be an easy situation. These are powerful men. These were murderous men. These were the most powerful forces around at the time. The Jews and the Romans had teamed up against the Lord Jesus. And so the scenario is very fearful. And the scenario is fearful when you have the sense that the world is against you. In the providence of God, there are times at which you will feel somewhat abandoned, somewhat alone in the field. You may be in a college classroom, you may be in the workplace, wherever it is, but you will at times have that opportunity to face the world by yourself as Shama did in the field of lentils. That's why it's so important to read these stories of how Joseph and Arimathea and Nicodemus showed up at the scene. And we think of William the Silent, or we think of John Wycliffe. Somebody asked me what the most courageous man in history would have been since the Apostle Paul, and I think the answer would probably be John Wycliffe. more than anybody else because he literally stood against the entire world. He was an influential man. Everybody knew who he was. Everybody else in the echelons of power had abandoned him, every single person. There wasn't a single advocate for John Wycliffe anywhere in the entire known world of Europe at the time. And so, here was a man, John Hus had not shown up yet. John Hus was a disciple of John Wycliffe, as many of you know. John Wycliffe stood alone at that time. There wasn't a John Calvin, there wasn't a Martin Luther, there was nobody else in the world at the time who would stand with John Wycliffe for his reforming perspective, and when he turned against transubstantiation, that was the end of it. So, Friends, there are times at which we will be facing the fear of man. And by God's grace, there are men who have stood in time past against the fear of man. Now, why the fear of man? Well, man is not much to talk about, really. Man really is not that impressive. I remember one time I was brought in pastors and some elders from an Orthodox Presbyterian church, and a number of these guys were working for, together as a partnership with a doctor, and they began to talk about this doctor, and they talked in hushed tones. They were afraid. It was so much the fear of man involved, and they wanted my counsel as to how to interact with this very oppressive, perhaps demon-possessed doctor that seemed to have so much fear that surrounded him all the time. And these were mature men of God who were quaking in fear before a single man. Of course, I'm outside of the picture, so I didn't actually, I wasn't in the environment. I wasn't under the force of Satan in this particular scenario, but then I turned to these men and said, men, who is this guy? You know, what in the world, why are you so afraid of Him in the face of Almighty God, who is over all things? But it's interesting how easy it is to forget about God, and we get sucked into this fear of man. Man is a paper tiger. Man cannot destroy the soul and body. Man can only destroy the body. Fear not man who can destroy the body, but rather, Jesus said, fear God who destroys body and soul and hell. And by the way, man can only destroy the body if God purposes it. So man is not worth considering. Man is just grass. As the flower of the field, so he fades. Compared to God, I ask you, what are the communist powers of China? What is there to fear? The fear of man is a snare, it's a lie, it's believing a lie about man, refusing to believe the truth about God. It's also rooted oftentimes in the pride of man because oftentimes men will fear men because the pride of men has institutionalized the fear of man as the beginning of wisdom. Because you see, people are afraid of losing face. The reason why young girls commit suicide when they come across a negative message about themselves on Facebook. Somebody shamed them on Facebook, so they commit suicide. Because all their hopes and all their identity and everything is placed in what men think about them. So this idea of man's impressions of us is big in man's mind. And they're afraid of losing position. They're afraid of losing likes on Facebook. And so they commit suicide. It's a fear of man. It's a fear of man. It's not healthy. Now, if you look back at Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, why would they fear the Jews? It's interesting, the Jews' position with the Romans was extremely tenuous at this time. 40 years afterwards, they would face the judgment of God. And in our day, I wonder why we fear the zeitgeist. Why do we fear the prevailing demonic spirit that seems to control our institutions today? Why, I've noticed this recently, that Christians are increasingly calling homosexuals gay. Now this is something of a Rubicon for Christians. This is a real test for Christians. You know, will they refer to homosexuals as gay? Will they give in to this positive image that has been cast for homosexuality over the last 20, 30 years? Remember the zeitgeist blows at 180,000 miles an hour. The river that we're in runs at 8,000 miles per hour. It's hard to row against it. I understand that. I get that. But here's my question. Why must Christians make their proper prostrations to the gods of the marketplace when 40 years from now, all of this is gone? It's all gone. Hollywood's already DOA. Hollywood's done, it's over. There are sackcloth and ashes services going on over the Emmys. The people interested in the star system, 60, 70% decline over the last eight, nine years. Hollywood is over. It's done. This zeitgeist is coming apart at the seams. Our culture, our social and cultural systems are already committing suicide. The political parties are cannibalizing themselves, and the Me Too movement is cannibalizing the sexual revolution of the 1960s. And you're afraid of them. And you're giving in. You're going to give in. To man, you would fear this. Why would you fear this? Man is grass. As the flower of the field, he fades. It's already fading. It's about ready to disappear. The world passes away with the lust thereof, but he who does the will of the Father abides forever. Now here's one more psychological and spiritual reality about fear. I've mentioned this before, but it's especially true in the world around us. Do you know that fear will generate fear? You walk in a room, someone's speaking with a fearful tone, anxious tone. They're a little worried about this or that. It spreads like wildfire. Before you know it, you know, the guy entering the room might have just been encouraged by a message of the Word of God, you know, on Psalm 46, and he's like feeling it, you know, yeah, we can overcome, we can overcome. He runs into three people who just, it's a downer. They're afraid, they're fearful of the world, they're anxious that Jesus is gonna lose or that we're gonna lose or something, and before you know it, everybody's got the spirit of fear. Fear tends to breed fear. Now, when it comes to the world around us, the men of the world have far more reason to be fearful than you do. You realize that? They're afraid. They have reason to fear. They fear eternal damnation. the inevitability of death, and the horrific evil of the devil, and his power to torment them, and to torment them, and to torment them, because he already torments them, he continues to torment them. Just read a story of a brother who received the gospel in some far off village in India. And for years, he said they've been under fear of the demonic spiritual forces. And the first thing that affected him when the gospel came was he just said, wow, the freedom from the fear of the devil was overwhelming to us. It was amazing how we were set free from this bondage of fear that the devil places over us. Friends, the world is afraid and quaking for the prospect of death and hell and the devil, but us, no, no, Christians, we have no reason to fear anything but God. Why do people fear men? Again, why Joseph Arimathea? Fearing the Jews. Now, here we go, listen. This is important. The reason why is because these were rich men, they were influential men, they could have lost their position, their wealth. It's because their material well-being and their immediate safety appeared to be under the immediate control of evil men. The cartel has come up against your vehicle. Seven guys with automatic weapons are coming down on you. And you think to yourself, the future of my life is in their hands. No, it isn't. That's a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie, don't you dare believe it. Your future is not in their hands. I love what David Wilkerson said when somebody was threatening him with death on the streets of New York. He said, yeah, but wait, your daddy has to ask my daddy permission first. What did he say, kids? Your daddy's gotta ask my daddy permission first before you pull that trigger. Let's wait and see what he says. While your daddy the devil asks my daddy, the father of me and all my brothers and sisters, the God who is sovereign over all things, over every muscle in your body right now, could smite you down right now, we're gonna wait and see what he says about it first. Amen. So the remedy is the fear of God. I want you to think about it for a moment. The wrath of man is so short-lived, one hour, maybe a day, God's wrath burns for an eternity. You fear man? His wrath burns? Maybe an hour? Maybe. God's wrath burns for an eternity. Fear Him rather. The power of man, what is it? Nothing. The power of God, the sovereignty of God, infinite, we've already said that. Think about it, compare for a moment. Man versus God, get it straight in your mind. Brothers and sisters, I think, as my brother said, we need the promises of God, we need the truth of God to follow us all day long because we forget these things. Is God more powerful than man? Do you believe that today, tomorrow, the day after? What about the knowledge of man? You know, I get a kick out of the memory of man. They get all upset with me. The world gets upset with me. I'm sorry, they just do. I irritate the world. I know that. It's a given. It's been happening for 15 years or 25 years, whatever it is. You know what? Just wait two days. So my other brothers tell me you get some level of persecution on a fairly regular basis. They said, just wait two days. And what about these scandals? That's one reason why I don't like to cover the scandals very much. I don't like to talk about them. I don't want to discuss them. Why? Because these scandals, does anybody remember the scandals that went on two years ago? The political scandals, you know, the Fox News-CNN dogfight that goes on constantly. It's boring. It's intensely boring. I have no interest in it. Does anybody remember the dogfight that went on, the scandals that went on two years ago? No, men forget it, but God doesn't. The wrath of God, the power of God, the knowledge of God. God doesn't forget, with one exception, and that is the guilt of our sins, wiped away by the death of Christ, because He took it upon Himself. All right, well, we have not received the spirit of fear, but of love and power and a sound mind. How many times does that go through your mind? And we're dominated by the truth. What is the truth? What do you go out there with? What do you go out there with? God is sovereign. God's purposes are never thwarted. All things work together for good. Christ is risen. He is conquered. We're on the way to glory. Resurrection is this afternoon at two o'clock. It's imminent. We think the truth. We speak the truth. We act the truth. And we're not going to entertain the lie that man is big, Man threatens our lives? How many times has your life been threatened by the world? I'm sure you've had some kind of a death threat. Most of us have. Come on! Are we afraid of these people? No! Never! Because God is sovereign. God is over all. All things work together for good. We're resurrected this afternoon, two o'clock. We're not going to entertain the lie. Alright, so now here's the transition for Nicodemus and for Joseph Arimathea. Here's the remedy. Faith. Transition fear to faith. This is a remarkable shift, too, for Nicodemus. That's one of the greatest shifts in Scripture. A lot like Gideon. Remember Gideon sneaking out there nighttime to destroy the Baal idol in his father's garden? Remember that? You remember, he sneaks in there, he goes, we're gonna do it at night, we're gonna take it down, nobody's gonna see us. We're gonna burn down the idols, burn up the porn magazines. We're gonna do it at night, just don't want anybody to see what we're doing. Sneak in there, and then what? A couple of months later or whatever it was, there he is going, okay, 300 guys against 140,000 Midianites, I think we can do this. This is doable, this is infinitely doable. The sword of the Lord and of Gideon! Now, was that a transition? That's a transition. Praise God. He's nurturing the faith of this man Gideon along the way. What do we have Nicodemus sneaking in at night going, hey, let's go in the back of the barn. I need to ask you a few questions. That's where he was in John 3, but where is this guy now in John 19? Where is Nicodemus now? It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon. broad daylight. Nicodemus, it's a big shift for this man Nicodemus. His friends in the Sanhedrin had crucified Jesus and one of the board members is going to go and honor Christ in his burial. Is that amazing? You think that's a politically correct thing to do for the Sanhedrin? Anybody? What do you think? What a huge shift for this man, Nicodemus. He's out of the closet now. He's standing with Christ. He's standing with the dead, lifeless, seemingly powerless, unimpressive body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Two men are with Christ now, Nicodemus and Joseph Arimathea, two men standing with Jesus. Why are they there? Because they believe in Him. The words of Jesus coming back to Nicodemus from John chapter 3. Jesus said this to Nicodemus. Remember, He was listening. Now, He's acting upon it. Listen to this. John 3, 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Nicodemus, you're going to see this! Nicodemus, you're going to witness this! Nicodemus, are you going to believe in me? This is the crux of the entire message right here. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in Him, Nicodemus, should not perish, but have everlasting life. And Nicodemus is standing there, and what is he saying? There is a man who is lifted up. This is the son of man who is lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. This is the one who's become a curse for us. And Nicodemus says, if I believe in him, I will not perish, but have eternal life. I see him lifted up. Nicodemus is there. Jesus' feet are here. Jesus' head is up there. Christ is lifted up. Now the question for you and the question for Nicodemus is, will you believe in Him? He is lifted up now. Will you believe in the Son of God who is lifted up for your salvation and for everlasting life? And Nicodemus says, I believe, I believe. I believe in Him and I will stand with Him. When I was a boy, raised in a Christian home, I would hear these sermons and I asked myself, maybe some of you are asking yourself this too, do I believe in Jesus? What is faith? Do I believe, am I believing? I'm here. I profess faith in front of other people in the church. But do I have faith? Am I going to heaven? And there are little children, I think, in this room, raised in Christian families as I was, who I'm sure some of you guys are asking yourself the same question. Do I believe in Jesus? Well, believing in Jesus is manifested by taking a stand for Jesus. The question is, am I acting like He is my Savior? Do I live like He's my Savior, my Lord, my God, and my King? Do I love Him and would I risk my life for Him? Providentially, God brings these moments into our lives. The first of which was when I was 17 years old, sitting in a junior college classroom, and one man was professing his faith in Jesus. The professor attacked him. He backed down and was embarrassed of his testimony. I stood up and defended Jesus in front of that classroom. And then another time, Somebody was taking Jesus' name in vain in my workplace, and I knew I had to say something. I had to stand up for Jesus. These tests will happen. A television producer, a director, was pressing me on Channel 12. And when that fellow was pushing me so hard, he asked me about, I suppose you think homosexuals are going to hell, and I stood up and I said, not if he believes in the Lord Jesus and repents of his sin. on citywide television. You see, the moment will happen in your life. Push will come to shove. And you will either stand for Jesus, either you will believe in Jesus and prove yourself that you do believe in Jesus, or you just don't believe in Jesus. And that's what we see with Nicodemus in this story. Yesterday, Fox News, I was shocked, covered a story about how Iran is turning to the faith of Jesus Christ. And I'll just read from Fox News. I was shocked, it was on the front page of Fox News for, it would have been at least six or seven hours. One believer is quoted, she said, we know that if they get to us, The first thing they will do to us as a woman is abuse us. And then they will beat us, and ultimately they will kill us. This is the decision we have made, that we will offer our bodies as sacrifices. Because I have this thought when I wake up, then when I leave that door, I might not come back. And that's every day. One of the leaders also was quoted Saying they're making disciples in Iran, not converts. Disciples forsake the world and cling to Jesus till he comes. Converts don't. Disciples are engaged in a culture war. Converts are. Disciples cherish, obey, and share the word of God. Converts don't. Disciples choose Jesus over anything and everything else. Converts don't. Converts run when the fire comes. Disciples don't. Disciples believe in Jesus. Converts have something of a verbal profession of faith. a mental assent of some sort, but they don't, they don't have faith because they don't act on faith. And these men acted in faith at three o'clock in the afternoon. I am convinced that the spiritual environment in America is just as tough as Iran and Communist China. I'm convinced of that. When I see you brothers and sisters come in all bloodied up from your interaction with the world, I know that this place is as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than Iran and Communist China. So one of two things must be true of you if you're a Christian. You are mocked and misinterpreted and false accused by the world for your faith in the workplace, in the school, in the college, in the marketplace, or by your relatives. Or, here's the other thing, you're either mocked, misinterpreted, and falsely accused for your faith, or, here's the other thing, you are standing with the Christian guy who is mocked, misinterpreted, and falsely accused for speaking the truth in your workplace, your school, or in the marketplace. So it's either the one or the other. You're either battered or bruised, or you're standing next to the one who is. All right, let's close the message. We saw that fear of man gave way to faith on the part of these men. But secondly, faith manifested itself in love for Christ and love for His body. These two men did something in their faith and out of their love for Jesus. What did they do? They put them in a rich man's grave, and they spared no expense with the spices. What does this mean? This means that faith always manifests itself in the concrete. Love manifests itself in the concrete. See, God has no time. Jesus has no time for the John Jack Rousseau's of the world. I just love everybody and gives everybody a big hug every day, but there isn't any follow through on that love. Love manifests itself in real material ways. Nicodemus contributed 100 Roman pounds of myrrh and aloes to the cause. That's about 80 pounds English, or $100,000, based on the expense of myrrh on the essential oils sites. $100,000 to treat the body of Jesus. Let's take a look at this for a second. How did they love Jesus? Now here's the interesting thing. They did it in the traditional way in which a culture honors the dead body of a loved one. So they do it in a cultural way. If it was cologne, it's cologne. Essential oils, it's essential oils. They honored Christ by an aromatic blessing. And it was a symbol of a special blessing upon the body of Jesus. It was a material blessing. So again, chocolate. Chocolate. I take that as a blessing. Just a hint. But I use that as an example. You know, this isn't a hyper-spiritual thing. We're not trying to turn this into a hyper-spiritual thing. This is just somebody blessing somebody else. with an aromatic blessing. That's what it is. It just happened to be the cultural way to bless somebody at the time. That's it. Don't make anything more out of it than that. Don't minimize the material gifts, the hospitality, that one extra thing. In some respects, it really doesn't matter the type of blessing which you bless. It's a matter of love. It's a matter of, did you do it in the moment? Did you do it? That's what they did. Secondly, how did they honor Jesus? They honored the body of Christ, the physical body of Christ. Now I know that many of you are probably thinking, it's too bad that the body of Christ isn't here right now. because I would love Jesus, and I would honor His body, and I would, listen, I would empty my bank account. I would put $200,000 on the dead body of Jesus at the foot of the cross. I would do it in a heartbeat. It's too bad His body isn't here right now. Nuff said. The point is this. Love for Jesus is never hypothetical and abstract. Never! You can't just sing about your love for Jesus. More love to Thee, O Christ, more love for Thee. You can't do it! God forbid you should sing that song! Without dealing with the love of Jesus' body in the concrete. Faith and love is never hypothetical. It's always expressed in the concrete every day. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and He gave His life for you, then how much would you give for Him? If Jesus being the Son of God, gave His life for you, how much would you give for Him? And as C.T. Studd said, there is nothing I could not give for Him. And that's why I believe C.T. Studd to be the most incredible missionary, probably the most extraordinary missionary, the most strenuous missionary since the Apostle Paul. of all of my work, you know, taking the world for Jesus, all these hundreds of missionary stories, I know of nobody who was as strenuous, as sacrificial, who did as much in the jungles of Congo as this man C.T. Stout. But what was it that animated him? If Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and I believe that, and he gave his life for me, and I believe that, there is nothing I cannot give for him. and he lived a strenuous life. So I don't have to say much more than this. But what is the most extraordinary thing, the most strenuous thing that American Christians could do for Jesus right now? The only thing I can think of is this. Wake up. Get up. Wake up to the voice of Jesus, to the body of Jesus. Wake up. It is a strenuous thing to wake up. Just to wake up is in itself strenuous. So I would leave it there, but I'll throw a few more things out. Find His body in front of you and begin to serve like you've never served before. They found the body of Jesus at the foot of the cross before them. And he did something for the body of Jesus, $100,000 of spices over the body of Jesus right in front of him. Find the body and begin to serve like you've never served before. Pray for them. Pray for the body. Edify the body. Encourage the body. Be nice to the body. There's so much spite. Oh, there's so much spite. In my own background, in the gossip and the slander, In some of the conversations that I have countenanced in my family, my extended family over the years, the spite for the church of Jesus has been despicable. And I repent of it in front of all of you. I repent of it. Any spite for the body of Jesus, any of this criticism, this casting down of the body of Christ, I'm done with it. You don't kick the bruised and broken and bloodied body of the Savior. You anoint Him with spices. And one more thing, we live in the greatest persecution in the Christian church, according to the secular media, since 325 AD. I wonder if we can help the bruised and broken and bloodied body of the Savior. Brothers and sisters, this is a life-changing message for me. I'm committing myself to a whole different way of living my life for the rest of my life, beginning today. One more observation. It's extraordinary what these wealthy men would do for the body of Jesus. In some respects, it's harder for the rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. It's harder for a rich man to flagrantly blow his money on $100,000 of spices on the dead body of a man who was just crucified. We would expect the poor woman to do it. We would expect Mary Magdalene to do this. But rich men, that's what's astounding here. Look what he threw away for you. What would you throw away for His body? So, brothers and sisters, let's join Nicodemus and Joseph carrying the lifeless body of the Savior to the tomb. Hold up one of His limp arms, and would you go with Him? Would you go with Joseph and with Nicodemus? Think about what Jesus gave. He gave it all for us, that we would gain everything, Eternity life forevermore endless bliss. He paid a hundred trillion dollars for our debt And then he gave us a hundred quadrillion dollars inheritance for spending money He gave it all He gave his life He conquered the devil. He carried the curse. He took the care of the problem of death He gave it all and Nicodemus could spare no expense for it He gave it all that we would have eternity. Now, what will I do for the remaining years of my life? For the last 20, 30, 40, 50 years of my life or your life, how are we going to care for the persecuted, bloody, tormented body of Christ? It all begins right here. What did He just do on that cross for me? As the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, this being his motive and our motive too, for the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died, and he died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. So for the rest of our lives, we will not live for ourselves, but live for Him who died for us and gave it all for us. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we stand again at the cross this time. Our Lord Jesus Christ is in the arms of Joseph and Nicodemus. And we would take just one arm and hold it up this morning. Jesus, You gave it all for us. You gave it all that we would be saved, that we would have eternal life, that we would have everything. Now, Father, it is our commitment to spare no expense for the body of Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen. I wrote a short poem for this. Lord, You gave it all for me. What have I to give for thee? You gave your life that I might live. What more was there for you to give? As we come to the Lord's table and once again be reminded of the gift of Jesus's life, his blood, and his flesh. that was given over to us. I wanna talk about the gift itself for just a moment. If you give a gift to somebody, you gave $50,000 to a beggar, some tramp, happened to be traveling through, you just decided to give $50,000 to this beggar, you know, you ask the question, was it worth it? When we consider a gift, people look at three things. They look at the expense of the gift, they look at the worthiness of the receiver, That is, people don't like to give gifts to those who have got themselves into trouble by their own alcoholism, their own foolishness, their wicked decisions. So you look at the expense of the gift, the worthiness of the receiver, and the reward, or the effect, or the impact of the giving. So you typically look at those three things when you're giving a gift. Now, what I'd like to do is look at God's gift for a moment, from this perspective. Let's look at those three things from God's perspective. Because remember, for God so loved the world, let's say it together, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. So God so loved the world, He gave the gift of His Son. So in eternity, as God is preparing the gift, He assesses this giving. He looks at the expense of the gift, first of all. His only begotten Son. That's expensive. It's very, very expensive. We sometimes contrast it to all the firstborn in Egypt who were slaughtered. the blood put, the blood of the lambs put, but the slaughtering of the young men throughout Egypt was the redemption price for releasing God's people from Egypt. But we look at the price of a life, we look at the price of the Son of God, and we say that's a price beyond all measurement. He could not have given us more than that, that is His own Son. Secondly, God looks at the worthiness of the receivers. Okay, let's talk about the worthiness of the receivers to receive this gift. Everybody do this, way down here. We're not worthy at all. We're not worthy. There's nothing, it's not like we're just poor people who've been, you know, taken advantage of. We have these wicked hearts. You wouldn't want to give a dime to a serial killer who killed your own son, would you? A serial killer killed your own son, say, I'd like a thousand bucks, please. Would you want to give a gift to that man? How many of you want to give a gift to a serial killer that just killed your son? Unworthy? These killers are unworthy? Unworthy? Terribly unworthy. But thirdly, the reward, the effect of this. And the reward of the effect of this gift was indeed the display of the sheer gloriousness of the grace of God throughout all eternity. See, God sees this gracious salvation as a great demonstration of His grace and His glory, and it will shine, and it will shine in you, and you, and you, and me, and you, and you, and you. It will shine throughout all eternity, the gloriousness of God's grace. Jesus gave His life away, the highest value for the worst of sinners, but it was worth it all. for the gloriousness of His grace. And so that's what we're celebrating. I think as we bring this out one more time, we say, this is the grace of God, this is a glorious thing, this is incredibly glorious, and we're gonna proclaim it, we're gonna believe it, we're gonna say it, we're gonna sing it. It's the gloriousness of the grace of God in the gift. But before I'm done, just a short exhortation. Discern the body of Jesus. That's what we're told in 1 Corinthians 11. You've got to discern the body of Christ. The body of Christ sacrificed on the cross was precious, very precious, to the Father, to the Son, and to us throughout all eternity. It will be precious, trust me. Throughout all eternity, the most precious thing in the world will be the blood of Jesus Christ. The body and the blood of Jesus are precious. But so is this body of Christ connected to the head, which is Christ. You see, there's a value on both sides of that. And so people have asked, well, what does 1 Corinthians 11 apply to? I think it applies to both because it's the blood of Jesus Christ that's surging through all of us and giving us the life as we are interacting together and forming the very body of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. 1 Corinthians 11, let me read. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner We'll be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord, but let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. In other words, there were people actually sick and dying in Corinth because they were not loving the body, discerning the body, appreciating the body, loving on the body of Jesus. Look around you right now. You can do that if you want. You can get up and give Jonathan a hug if you want. Whatever, just love on the body of Jesus as he loves on us. That's all we're saying. Let's pray. Father in heaven, God, we sense your love for us. We see the value of this gift. Unestimable. It's a gift beyond all possibility of us to measure it. The depth, the height, the breadth of your love for us by giving us this great gift. But not only that, Father, you gave this gift to sinners that were the least of the least of the least of the worthies. Father, We are so infinitely, incredibly graced by the greatest gift for the most unworthy sinners, but now the most glory and praise and honor to our Lord and Savior and to our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, this day and forever and ever as we receive this, the reminder of the body and blood of Jesus that was given for us now. In Jesus' name, amen.