You may be seated. To the glory of God. Now the time between the death of Jesus and His resurrection was a very strange time. It had to be the most confusing time for any true believer, but especially those men whom Jesus had chosen to become the apostles. We know from our previous messages that among the remaining eleven disciples, that only Peter and John followed Jesus to the courtyard where Jesus had been interrogated and beaten. But the Gospel writers say that of all the eleven men whom Jesus had personally chosen, only John was present at Golgotha to actually witness the crucifixion. And the Bible tells us that John was there with several women. I made a mistake last week and told you it was three women and John, and my daughter pointed it out, and it's all because of a comma. And actually, there were four women and John, because the comma divides the two women up, so I need to correct that, and I'm sorry I said that. Thank God for Beulah. Now, those who had put their trust in Jesus had just watched their Savior die. They could scarcely believe that God would permit their beloved leader to be arrested, interrogated, and beaten. But it was beyond belief that Jesus would actually die. They had all been so sure that Jesus was the One. And now He is dead. And it was all so confusing and there were so many questions. Like, what are they supposed to do now? What does God expect from us now that Jesus is dead? Are we supposed to assemble the army and go to war against the Romans? How is the death of their Lord and Master supposed to be a good thing? Where was God in all of this? Why didn't God defend Jesus? Why were pagan barbarians allowed to triumph over their King? How are we supposed to put all these pieces together? These men had been the closest to Jesus personally, and Jesus had invested the most time with them, teaching them divine truth, and they had been the ones who had forsaken everything. Their jobs, their occupations, and some even their families. For what? For three and a half years they had focused almost exclusively on Jesus, on who He was and what He said and what He did. But now their thoughts turned back to themselves. What is going to happen to me now that Jesus is gone? If they can do this to Jesus, what will they do to me? to a man they had believed that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, even though just what the Messiah was supposed to do when he got here was still pretty unclear to them. At this point, the Messiah that the disciples were looking for was a military leader, a man who would gather an amazing army of Jews, who would engage in a literal war with the pagan armies of Rome and drive them from the land that God had given to them through the promise of Abraham. So in their mind, the Messiah was supposed to win. To triumph. And yet Jesus is now dead. And where is Peter? Wasn't Peter the one who was the closest to Him? Now there's no doubt that what Jesus had told them was somewhere in the back of their minds. They remember that Jesus had said in Mark 10, 33 and 34, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and spit on Him and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again. Now to those of us that live in the 21st century, and we've read the book of Galatians, and we've read the book of Romans, and we've read the end of the story, this is all very clear to us. But evidently to them, they still could not put the pieces together. Is He really going to rise physically? Or is this a spiritual thing? Is this a symbolic thing? But Jesus said this before He died. This was just too much, even for them. If only we could ask Him what was going on. He would help us through this. Maybe we could ask Peter. Has anyone seen Peter since Thursday night? But as confusing as all these events over the last couple of days had been, there were astounding miracles that had taken place that made these men understand that this was not a normal death. There were at least four amazing supernatural events that had taken place since noon that spoke to the uniqueness of Jesus' death. Number one, there was this strange darkness that came upon all the land. Number two, the veil had been torn from top to bottom. There was a great earthquake. And then there's this amazing resurrection. As we have already discovered, the Gospel writers tell us that since noon as Jesus was hanging in agony on the cross, there had been a strange and pervasive darkness that had come upon the land. And this darkness is strange for a number of reasons. First of all, there is no mention of rain or even wind being with this darkness. Now there might have been both. But the Bible doesn't say there was. So it could have simply been a darkness. And this meant it was very different from the darkness that accompanies a midday rain. But another strange aspect of this darkness is the fact that Scriptures say from noon until Jesus died, the darkness was upon the land. But does that mean that as soon as Jesus died that this darkness lifted? We don't know for sure. It may have. And if so, then the darkness would have lasted for three hours. and then lifted. But it could have been that even now, even after Jesus was dead, the darkness persisted. And we can surmise that this darkness was a sign that God was angry. But the darkness is strange indeed. Another more understandable sign was that while people were in the temple, praying and worshipping, that the veil in the temple that separated them from the Holy of Holies was split from top to bottom, signifying that the old covenant was abolished and the new covenant was being instituted upon the earth. And we understand that very clearly right now. But the main reason that we understand that is because the writer of the Epistle of Hebrews talks about it in great detail. That's why we basically understand it. But now look carefully again at what Dr. Luke wrote in verse 47. When the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, certainly this man was innocent. Now that's something strange that you do at an execution. I mean, if Jesus had waited until the 21st century to be born of a virgin, and he would have lived 33 years as a sinless human being and then died by execution, he would have probably died in Mississippi by lethal injection. And then everybody that goes to church would be wearing little bitty images of lethal injection tables studded with diamonds around their neck like they do crosses and we'd have a thing of a lethal injection table there if Jesus died by hanging we'd have little nooses little earrings made out of gold nooses or if Jesus died by firing squad we would have had a target or something and that would have been the symbol of Christianity or if the electric chair we had a little miniature electric chairs and I've always wondered if people are thinking when they buy little crosses around their necks that what they're actually wearing is an execution tool a horrible painful agonizing execution tool and if it was the firing squad would they do that I've always asked I'm not telling you not to wear that I'm just saying I'll wondered if they realize what they're wearing. And I don't know what the diamonds are supposed to signify. But he began praising God at this man just died horribly in excruciating agony. He's drenched in blood from his beatings. He screamed in agony that God had forsaken him. And now this The pagan Roman is being visited by the Holy Spirit right at this scene, and somehow his eyes are opened to the truth of the Gospel, and he's praising God, saying, certainly this man was innocent. Now the title of centurion meant that this man was a commanding officer over a hundred men. So this was a highly trained, battle-hardened military leader. And since he was near the cross, then evidently he was the one in charge. And Luke tells us that when this man saw what had happened, he responded. Now the phrase, saw what happened, includes the way that Jesus suffered and died, as well as all of the supernatural signs that was going on during and immediately after His death. Contrary to what this centurion was used to witnessing, Jesus never begged for his life. He never pleaded with his captors to have mercy on him or let him go. He never asked that his life be spared. This centurion was used to hearing the cries and the screams and the groanings of human beings as they were crucified. But nothing prepared him for what he heard Jesus say while dying on the cross. Jesus never cried out, why is this happening to me? He never said, why am I being killed? I'm innocent. The only question that he asked on the cross is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This centurion had been close enough to hear the exchange between Jesus and the two robbers. And he had seen the one robber turn and stop railing out against Jesus and ask Jesus to remember him when Jesus came into his kingdom. And this Roman had heard Jesus tell this pathetic man who was about to die, truly I say to you today, you shall be with me in paradise. The centurion had heard all of the railing accusations against Jesus and watched this man suffer and die with a dignity that he had never seen before. And this is something that needs to be stressed to the people of God. It is not always God's will to deliver you out of your hardships. Sometimes it is God's will to deliver you out of your hardship. Sometimes it is God's will to perform a miracle or a healing and move mightily in your situation and turn the sun back into the sky and do something magnificent for you. And when it is God's will to do that, then praise be to God and we thank God for that. But many of the times it is God's will that you suffer with grace. that you learn to endure the unfairness and the injustice of your persecution and your sickness and your accusations that are being leveled against you falsely with the grace and the dignity of one who has his faith in the eternal God of heaven and earth. and that you do not say, why is this happening to me? Because as believers, you understand why it's happening to you. That if they did this to your Savior, why should you go unscathed? Jesus was truly innocent. We are not innocent. And so we all deserve damnation. And if what we get in this life is injustice, unfairness, persecution, false accusations, even physical beatings. That's a lot better than hell. And so may we all learn to live well to the glory of God. May we learn to suffer well to the glory of God. And may we learn to die well to the glory of God. It is a sin for believing Christians, born again believers, to weep and wail at a funeral as those who have no hope. We cry, we mourn, we grieve over the loved ones that we lost. But we do not grieve like those who have no hope. We believe in eternal life. And we understand that those who were saved would not come back down here for all the money in the world. And no, they're not listening to you. And no, they're not watching over you. You have one better than your dead loved one that's watching over you. His name is Jesus. Your loved one that's in heaven doesn't care about you. He's not listening to you. He doesn't answer your prayers. He's not interceding to the Father on your behalf. None of that. The Roman church has made that stuff up. Made people feel comforted. Let me tell you something. Mama used to walk around saying, I'm talking to your daddy. I said, he ain't listening, Mama. He's worshiping Jesus. If he could look down here and see this sin-cursed earth, there'd be tears in heaven and there is no more weeping in heaven. Hallelujah. Yeah. And so here's the deal. When a saint dies, leave him alone. Yeah. Don't raise me from the dead when I die. I'm going to be so mad at y'all. If I'm with Jesus and y'all raise me from the dead, leave me alone. Hallelujah. If I'm lost, yeah, raise me up quick. But if I'm saved, leave me alone. I don't want to come back. Amen to that. This centurion had heard all the railings, accusations against Jesus. He watched this man suffer and die with a dignity that he had never seen before. And he heard Jesus pray, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing. This centurion witnessed the strange darkness that came upon the land at noon. So I'm wondering if people are following behind you when you're being falsely accused by evil people And you're not saying, I don't know why they don't love me anymore. I don't understand why they're talking about me all the time. Or you're saying, Father, forgive them. And you pray for your enemies. And you pray that they could be saved. Because your enemy can be your brother if he was only a Christian. And think about Saul of Tarsus as he hailed men and women to prison. And then six months later he's standing in front of them as an apostle teaching them the Word of God. Same people. There's a widow woman. He made a widow woman. There's orphans that he made to be orphans because he killed their husband and their father. And yet now he's an apostle of the Lord. That's Christianity. And there's no record anywhere other than at the very beginning where Paul was not received with joy. At first, they weren't sure he was really converted, and they were scared of him. But after that, they received him. They welcomed him with open arms, even though he had persecuted those very people. We need to remember that. There's only one thing wrong with bad people. Only one thing's wrong with them. They're not saved. If they were saved, they wouldn't talk about you. They would love you. They'd be your brothers and sisters. So pray for them. This centurion witnessed the strange darkness that came upon the land at noon that had lasted now for three hours. He had heard Jesus tell one of His disciples to care for his mother. And then he heard Jesus scream out, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani! He had seen Jesus refuse the first wine, which had been mixed with myrrh and would have made His agony a little easier to endure. And then this man heard Jesus say, I am thirsty for the wine that would have prolonged His suffering. And this Roman centurion would have heard the commotion being made, something about the veil in the temple being torn in two. And then he had heard Jesus scream out, It is finished! And Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit. And he watched Jesus die. Now whoever was in charge of the crucifixions had to remain with the prisoners. until they were dead. And so it was probably this very centurion who ordered that the legs of the ones being crucified would be broken to speed up their deaths. And they broke the legs of the two robbers, and when they came to Jesus, he was already dead. And then this man saw and felt this massive earthquake. Now while Luke tells us this centurion publicly acknowledged Jesus' innocence, Matthew 27.54 tells us this, Now the centurion and those who were with him, keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, Truly this was the Son of God. Indicating that the other soldiers who were with this centurion may have also believed. So if you believe as I do that sinners are saved by what they believe, what they confess, and what they trust in, and not by what they do, then it is very possible that these battle-hardened Roman soldiers became the very first converts to Jesus immediately after He died. And that means that even now, at the worst possible moment for the disciples of Jesus, that God's amazing grace was powerfully at work to save these pagans. Now I cannot find any extra biblical comments about this earthquake. None of the ancient historians wrote anything about it as far as I can find. And this tells us that it may not have been your average earthquake. This may have been nothing more than an unmistakable sign to these Roman soldiers to save their souls and not the normal kind of earthquake that would cause great damage. A similar earthquake occurred with Paul and Silas over in the book of Acts chapter 16. I'd like for you to go there with me. Acts chapter 16. I want your eyes to see this. Beginning with verse 22. Acts chapter 16 beginning with verse 22. Paul and Silas are out preaching the gospel and they're stirring up people and making people mad at them. and they're causing great confusion all over the place. And so this sorcerer gets saved and all these people are getting born again. And in verse 22 it says, The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. I don't know if you've ever seen anybody beaten with a rod before. It's amazing. It's amazing Indonesia to my knowledge is the only nation on earth that still does that. If you want to smoke a little weed better not go to Indonesia because they will beat you with rods in Indonesia. They have a tremendous military police there and they don't they don't play with you they don't care if you the president United States they'll beat you with a rod and it is it is brutal and people learn from that. And when they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely. And he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. And this is another sermon, but what is he afraid of? It's two guys without weapons preaching the gospel. They're using words. And he's not just content to throw them in prison, but he puts them into the prison inside the prison, which is kind of like a dungeon, and he puts them in the stalks. And what that was is they had to sit down on the floor, and their feet were out in front of them, and they had these chains that would put their feet like that, and then their arms and hands were chained to the wall where they couldn't move. They couldn't stand up. They had to sit there. And at night, the rats would come out and eat their toes and crawl all over them and eat their face and all of these things that rats do. And that's what this is looking like. And so, you know, you could just imagine modern day Christians and their conversation about right now. Oh you had to go on and preach didn't you Paul wasn't content you had to open your mouth and now here we are in the prison and you you get to one content with just passing through and singing some songs no no you had to stand up and preach and now here we are in the prison and now we're stuck in here this is how people would talk in the modern church but the Bible says here in verse twenty five about midnight Paul and Silas were Praying and singing hymns of praise to God. Yeah! And look what it said, and the prisoners were listening to Him. Hallelujah! Amen! Right there in prison, midnight, they're praising God and singing hymns. That's what Christians do. Amen? And suddenly, look right here, there came a great earthquake. Here's what happened. So that the foundations of the prison house were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everybody's chains were unfastened. It was that kind of earthquake. You know, you read about these all the time. That it hits a prison and all the doors of the prison open up and all the chains fall off. It's a common thing that happens all the time. Right? No. No. It's that kind of earthquake. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. Now here's something else that the modern people of the modern church would do. They'd all run for the hills, right? Let's get out of Dodge. Paul and Silas stayed right there. Because the soul of the jailer, the man who beat them the night before, was more important than their freedom. But Paul cried out with a loud voice saying, do not harm yourself for we are all here. And he called for lights and rushed in and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. And after he brought them out, he said, this is the question all jailers ask after an earthquake. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? This kind of earthquake brings conviction of sin. Huh? Yeah. They said, Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night, listen, this is the jailer, and washed their wounds. Because they had still been beaten. And immediately he was baptized. He and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them and rejoiced greatly having believed in God with his whole household. So this was not the kind of earthquake that people normally experience. This was the kind of earthquake that didn't do any damage except open all the jail doors and shake off all the chains of all the ungodly prisoners that led to the conversion of the jailer. It was that kind of earthquake. And the earthquake in Luke 23 was not normal either. It was the kind of earthquake that split the veil in the temple and converted Roman centurions. But now we come to one of the strangest of the signs that occurred at the moment that Jesus died. Here's what the Apostle Levi wrote in Matthew 27, 52 and 53. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, They entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now I'm not sure if they were raised from the dead immediately at the death of Jesus, for some reason stayed in the tombs until after the resurrection and then went into the city, or they weren't raised until after the resurrection. I can't figure out which one it is, but it could be either one as far as I know. Now this would have made the front page of the newspapers. This would have been something that would have shaken all of Jerusalem. For many of the dead saints to physically rise from the dead and walk into Jerusalem and appear to many would have been one of the most amazing signs ever done. And yet I can find absolutely nothing in ancient historical writings that discuss this. And there are some very strange aspects and unanswered questions about this miracle like who were these saints? Why did they rise immediately upon the death of Jesus, and yet before Jesus Himself rose from the dead, if that's the way it worked? What did they tell the people who saw them? Where did they go after they appeared to many? Why is there nothing else said about this? Now there are a lot of things I could say about this, but straight out of the box, let me reinforce to you that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible Word of the Living God. And the Gospel of Matthew records this miracle, and that makes it to be true. So this happened. And trying my hardest to avoid speculation, I don't know or understand any more than what is written here. Now, obviously, these people were Old Testament saints. But what was the criteria as to which saints rose here? Why not all of the Old Testament saints? Why just these? Maybe it was all of the saints who had died and were buried in Jerusalem, which would have eliminated most of the famous ones that we know, like Abraham, Noah, and Moses, who were buried someplace else. But why didn't Paul or John or Peter reference this in their epistles? Why didn't the Jewish historian Josephus write about it? This would have been a big deal. And yet all we have is silence. And so one answer I will offer you is that there must be other books, other historical writings that we have not found yet that talk about this amazing miracle and put some biblical importance to it. And we may never find out more than we read here. And that's okay. This happened. Now as powerful as... And that's all I know about it. Everything else is speculation. The great theologian John Calvin wrote about this and he surmised this then he surmised that and basically he said I'll have a clue. So I'm in good company. I don't understand this any more than most of you will understand that this happened and that's all I know. There's one more event that happened that nothing is said about in ancient historical writings and that is the slaughter of the innocents when Herod had all the babies killed that were two or three years old or under. There's nothing written about that. That would have been a big deal too that most Jewish especially Josephus should have said something about and he didn't. But I believe it to be true because it's in the Bible and so we just don't have enough. We haven't found the right history books that were written back then. that would tell us about it because this happened. And if this troubles you, I want to remind you of something. Until about 1971, I think it was, there was nothing in history, no literature, no archaeological discoveries that suggested that a man named David ever lived other than the Scriptures. We had no record at all of King David of anything he said or did or anything in history or in archaeology or in any writings that they found. And in 1971 some woman rented a camel and walked out in the desert and tripped over a pot and over there when you see something in the ground you call the authorities because it might be something important and very valuable and they called the authorities and they dug and they found Solomon's library. He had records where he did business with other nations. And he had documents that were signed by his father David. As he did commerce with other nations of the world. And this was in my lifetime that they found this. So don't fret. There are things that you just have to believe and trust, and then years later, maybe never in our lifetime, but years later they find something and it verifies exactly what the Bible says. So God's Word is true, and this resurrection happened. I just don't know any more about it than that. Now as powerful as these miracles were, they were not the greatest. The greatest miracle is the conversion of these hard-hearted Roman soldiers. And so when Dr. Luke says, when the centurion saw what had happened, he is talking about all of these signs and miracles. Now let me say one more thing here before we move on. God's Word says that when the centurion and all the soldiers in Matthew 27, 54 saw what happened, he responded in faith. And that means that this is an amazing example of salvation that is out of the ordinary. Because the Bible declares that salvation in Jesus Christ comes by a very precise way. The Gospel must be preached, the Gospel must be heard and understood, the Gospel must be believed. And that is why we are commanded by the Lord Christ to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation. So as the foolishness of the Gospel preached is carried out, that is the means that God has chosen to save. The foolishness of the message preached. God performs a miracle and grants regeneration to those chosen for salvation. And with those new eyes and ears that God sovereignly gives in the miracle of the new birth, the Gospel is heard. And with that new soft heart that God has sovereignly given, the individual has the desire and the power to believe and to trust in Jesus personally and in His finished work for salvation. Brother Jody was talking this morning in our early morning Bible class about this, and he's being asked questions in his hometown about how does this all work. And so people say, well, how did you get saved? And this is the question we need to examine. How is it that you and I came to faith in Jesus Christ? How did that happen? Well, you say, well, I heard the Gospel. How did you hear the Gospel? Well, the man preached it and I heard it. How is it that you came to believe the Gospel? Well, I repented and I trusted in Jesus. That's because you already believed it was true. What happened that all of a sudden you heard and believed? One of two things is true. Either you're a better person than the guy who didn't believe, Or God did something in you sovereignly that at least as of this day, He didn't do with the other guy. That's your two choices. And if you're a better person than this other guy, you deserve the glory. But if God did something in you to open your eyes and open your ears and open your heart and grant you the gift of repentance, and that's why you're saved, then God gets all the glory and you get none. So we should all marvel that we're saved. We should all wonder. And I'm doing my best to get you to think about it. I walk up to you and say, are you still saved? And people just brush by it like no big deal. How did you get saved? But here's the question. How do you stay saved? Because here's the thing. You still sin. So sin doesn't matter anymore? Are the Romans right and you need to go through the rite of penance? Or is your salvation eternal? How's that work? I'm telling you, this is bigger than we think. This is more amazing than we think. So when you hear some moron say, I know there's more of this than salvation. You don't understand salvation, Bubba. because you ought to be on your face that you're saved. This ought to blow your mind every day. How in the world did somebody like me... You want to say, not only am I saved, I'm preaching. Me! I'm a pastor. Can you believe that? And I say, you all don't know me. You don't know me before. I'm a sinner. You don't understand. Yeah, I think you do. This is amazing that we can hear, that we can see, that we can believe, that we can trust and keep on believing and trusting. Oh, I'm telling you, something got a hold of me. And it's better. It's better than anything I've ever imagined. Hallelujah. So believing and trusting and confessing and repenting, everything we do to become justified before God are not things that we initiate or that we simply choose to do. No, no, no, no. All that we do are all human responses to the sovereign work that God the Holy Spirit has already done in the individual through the miracle of the new birth. So you all were taught that you've got to believe in order to be born again. Wrong. You've got to be born again in order to believe. Hallelujah. Amen. And the catalyst of the new birth is the faithful and full heralding of the glorious biblical gospel. And so the Bible is crystal clear about this. Nobody is saved apart from hearing and believing the gospel. So this is why I have a problem with what is called today the social gospel. the social gospel is a derivative it is a perversion of post-millennial eschatology and it says that generally speaking everything's going to get better in the earth because the gospel is going to dominate the world and and therefore we don't need to be concerned so much about preaching the gospel we need to learn how to become good doctors and good lawyers and good artists, and good musicians, and we need to be farmers, and we need to populate the world, and be nice people, and help the poor, and help the blind, and clothe the naked, and feed the hungry. And all of that is generally elevating the status of mankind, and that then, after a while, becomes the sole focus of God in the earth. And I'm telling you that's a lie. All you've done is make them more comfortable before they go to hell. All you've done is rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic before it hits the iceberg. The gospel must be preached. Is it okay to feed the hungry? Absolutely, as long as that's not all you do for them. You're supposed to feed the hungry and care for the poor and the widows and the orphans and all of that and be kind and have acts of mercy in our community and show the love of God to unworthy people. All that is good, but it's a means to an end. And so while you're building the handicap ramp and while you're repairing the roof and while you're mowing the widow woman's yard, you preach the gospel. Because until the gospel is preached, nobody gets saved. And so we have to understand they don't kill missionaries because they build hospitals. They don't kill missionaries because they have dental work in these poor countries. They don't kill missionaries because they teach them how to read and write and how to farm better. They kill missionaries because of what the missionaries preach. Because they go into these pagan lands and they tell them their religion is false. and they tell them that Jesus is the only Son of God, and that salvation is only in Jesus' name. And now they've got all the religious leaders on their head, plus the people who are in charge of the culture, and the government on their head, because they're telling people their government is based on a false premise of a culture, and their culture is based on a false religion that is demonically inspired. And people don't like to hear that. That's why they kill missionaries. And if that's not the gospel, why in the world do we send missionaries to other countries? If Joel Osteen is right, and Buddhism and Mormonism and Hinduism and Judaism and Islam are all just different paths into heaven, why in the world are these people risking their lives every day? Bring them home! Everybody's going to be happy in heaven together, right? No, Jesus said go into all the world and do what? Preach the gospel to every creature. And teach them to observe everything that I have commanded you. And baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. So yeah, feed them and clothe them and house them and teach them and preach to them and get them converted and baptize them. And then they'll learn to serve the Lord. And multiple marriages will fade by the wayside. And sacrificing children will fade by the wayside. And all these wickedness that pagans do will go down. And the church will be elevated. And Jesus will be exalted. That's the gospel. Nobody is saved apart from hearing and believing the Gospel. And that means that nobody is saved through the manifestation of miracles, or signs, or wonders, or miraculous healings, or other supernatural demonstrations. Salvation comes only by grace, and through faith, and not by works. Not even noble, religious, or miraculous works. And this is the very heart and soul of biblical Christianity. So without the firm and stable and unbending tenet of justification by faith alone, which is summarized by the Latin phrase, sola fide, we no longer have biblical Christianity. I'm criticized on the radio. People say, he just bashes Roman Catholicism. He gets on the radio and he just bashes Romans. Bashes Romans. Not doing anything of the kind. They teach a false gospel. That's a fact. How many different ways are there to go to heaven? There's one. Amen. And anybody who teaches a false gospel is of the devil. And I want everybody to be saved. I don't want a dog to go to hell. So I'm concerned about what you're being taught and what you believe about salvation. Pretty important stuff, right? And so we categorically reject and condemn any preaching or teaching from any group or person that denies that salvation is entirely by God's amazing grace alone, and it is solely through the gift of saving faith alone, and it is in Jesus Christ personally, and in His finished work alone, and is not accomplished by partaking of the sacraments, or by being baptized, or by performing good works. And yet these Roman soldiers appear to come to repentance and faith in Jesus without hearing the Gospel preached. So what are we to make of this? Were they really saved? And if so, why can't others be saved the same way without hearing the Gospel preached? No. People today must hear the Gospel preached if they are to be saved. And so if these Roman soldiers were truly saved, it was only because they were among the very few people in the history of the world that were able to actually witness the Gospel firsthand. And so they didn't hear the Gospel preached, they saw it. When Jesus suffered and was crucified and died, and they were sovereignly given the desire and the ability to repent and believe based on what they personally witnessed about Jesus. But it is very important that we also say that once Jesus rose from the dead, these men would be required to believe in that as well. Now, it wasn't only the Roman soldiers. Look at what Dr. Luke wrote next. And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who accompanied him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things. To all these things, the suffering and the death of Jesus, the strange darkness, the earthquake, the veil being torn in two, the resurrection of many of the Old Testament saints, all of these amazing and strange signs caused the crowds and Jesus' acquaintances and the women to beat their chest in anguish and amazement. But notice that it doesn't mention the disciples by name here. It merely calls them acquaintances. even though he lets us know that the women were there. This is the only place in Luke where this word is used. And Luke is also careful not to mention Peter either. Now the term acquaintances might refer to other people, the Methetes, the students who follow Jesus everywhere, even though this is the only time he used the term acquaintance. But it might also be a slight insult to the disciples who should have been standing tall at this moment, and yet were at a distance with the women. Besides John, everyone else kept their distance from Jesus. And so Dr. Luke may have been putting down on the men who should have been front and center here, but were not. And the absence of any mention of Peter is very loud indeed. Now we need to praise God for a man named Zebedee. Brother Zebedee, his name meant thunder. And he had two boys, John and James. They were called the sons of thunder. And that's not because they were sweet. Amen. You know what fishermen do when they're not fishing? They fight. You know what people who are called to fish for men are not doing? You know what people who are called when they're called to fish for men, when they're lazy and they don't go out and fish for men, you know what they do? They fight among themselves. So one of the best ways to handle church squabbles is to get busy in the kingdom. Yeah, it always works. Yeah, and then you forget about what you're upset with each other about and you go about the father's business. Amen. So Zebedee let his wife go with Jesus from Galilee all the way down into Jerusalem with these other women. Amen. This is amazing. Why would a man do that unless he was a believer? Now, next, Dr. Luke wants us to meet a man named Joseph. Luke 23, 50 and 51 said a man named Joseph who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man. He had not consented to their plan in action. A man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews who was waiting for the kingdom of God. What a way to describe him, right? Now right off the bat we know several things about this guy. He was a member of the council, meaning he was part of the Sanhedrin court. He was a good and righteous man, the Bible says. He had not consented to their plan and action to kill Jesus. He was waiting for the kingdom of God and he was from a place called Arimathea. Now in Matthew 27, 57, the Apostle Levi gives us some additional information about this man. He was rich and he had become a disciple of Jesus. And in Mark 15, 43, John Mark tells us that this Joseph was a prominent member of the council. And while in John 19, 38, the Apostle John said that Joseph was a secret disciple for fear of the Jews. So this Joseph was a wealthy and respected Jewish elder, part of the ruling Sanhedrin council. He was what we would call well-connected. So this Joseph moved in circles of society that would have allowed him access to the most important people, both in the Jewish world as well as the Romans. But because of his position, this Joseph had been very careful to keep his love and devotion to Jesus a secret until now. So in a real sense, Joseph was a coward. The fear that he had about his belief in Jesus was paralyzing. It stopped him from any public affirmation. And it is important that we understand that this silence dishonored his Lord. Joseph was more fearful of what he might lose by being open and faithful about who Jesus is, than he was in failing the Lord who saved him. And for that, he is to be forever shamed. But thank God, it isn't the way a man begins his walk with Jesus that is nearly as important as how he ends. And so we don't stop by looking at the cowardly way that Joseph began, but rather how he finally came to publicly affirm his faith and trust in Jesus. So even though he had begun his walk with God by being afraid to reveal his trust in Jesus as the true Messiah, Joseph didn't remain a coward. The fact that he is identified here with Jesus at his burial proves to us that whatever fear he may have had, he faced it in the power of the Holy Spirit and had overcome it. And for that, he is to be greatly admired. Now the city is called Arimathea, and it was in Judea. And the original Greek has a hard breathing mark at the beginning of this word, and so its original name was Haramathia, which corresponds to the Jewish Haramathim. But the original Aramaic translation of this city over in John 19, verse 38, has it as Har-Ramtha, which when Anglicized drops the Har and reads Ram-ath, or simply Ramah. Now back in the third century, the first church historian, Eusebius, said that this city was Ramathame-Zophon, which was a town in Ephraim. And 1 Samuel 1 verses 1 and 19 tells us that David met with Samuel there. Now in verse 52, Dr. Luke tells us, this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Levi says, this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. While Peter's disciple, John Mark, goes into even greater detail in Mark 15, 43b-45 that says, and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate wondered if he was dead by this time, and summoning this centurion, he questioned him as to whether he was already dead. And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph." So here you might have had a believing Roman centurion who, as of right now, Pilate didn't know that his centurion was believing, and you had a believing Jew standing before Pilate and they're meeting together. This is fascinating how all this comes together. Now if Joseph was wealthy and had connections, why did he have to gather up courage to go to Pilate to ask for Jesus' body? Because the only reason anyone would want Jesus' body was because they believed in him and were part of him. So Joseph knew that as soon as he asked for Jesus' body, his secret would be known and he would suffer persecution. And part of this man's punishment would be his removal from the Sanhedrin and ostracized from Roman influence. You see, even today there is great stigma attached to the family and friends of people who have been convicted of terrible crimes and executed. Many times they are left destitute and have a hard time even finding work. As soon as their bosses find out that their friends or loved one was executed for heinous offenses, many times they are fired or driven out. The children of convicted criminals suffer unbelievably, and many of them live very hard lives. Back when Christianity was an illegal religion, those who associated with the faithful martyrs were many times themselves martyred. The family and friends of saints who were imprisoned or killed lived lives of great hardship and poverty, as neither the Jews nor the Romans would hire them. And even publicly associating with murdered saints was very dangerous. In the book of the Acts chapter 8, after the first deacon Stephen was stoned to death, We read this beginning with verse 1. Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him, Stephen, to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. Most of the time when you read things like this, you say, oh, that's so bad. They would suffer great persecution. And the Bible says they were scattered into Judea and Samaria. Isn't that terrible? Well, when Jesus told them to go into all the world, He said, go first into Jerusalem, then into Judea, then into Samaria, and then into the uttermost parts of the world. And they didn't do it. And they stayed right in Jerusalem. Why? Because they were comfortable in Jerusalem. Aren't you glad that we have overcome that tendency in the modern church? That we will quickly obey God when He tells us to risk it all and go in His name for the triumph of His gospel? But these people struggled with that. And so God was good to send them persecution. And the persecution was the kind of persecution that drove believing saints into other areas of the country that Jesus had told them to go to in the beginning. So, should we say, I'm so sorry? Or should we say, thank you Jesus? Yeah, except when the persecution comes to us. So as soon as Stephen was martyred, great persecution began against the church. So what was the response of the believers to this great danger? Look at verse 2. Some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. You've got to ask, when you see verses like this in the Bible, Dr. Luke put this in on purpose. So this is not just gee whiz facts that fill up the page. This is important theology. Now to bury Stephen meant that these devout men had to go to the Jewish authorities to ask for his body. Just like Joseph did with Jesus. And as soon as they did that, everybody knew that they were with Stephen. And when Dr. Luke said that these devout men made loud lamentation over him, this means they unashamedly cried and publicly mourned his death so that everybody in Jerusalem would understand where was Stephen? We believe what he believed. We are his brothers in Christ. And what was the result of this public show of affection for a martyred brother? Look at the next verse. Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house and dragging off men and women. He would put them in prison. Now, when the New Testament commands believers to visit the prisons, He's not talking about preaching the gospel to murderers and thieves and dope dealers and other ungodly criminals. Now, I think it is good to do that. And I thank God for those of you who inconvenience yourselves on a regular basis and are faithful to go into the prisons to preach the gospel to unsaved criminals. But when the New Testament commands us to do that, it is referring to the believers who have been imprisoned because of their faith. And many times when saints would go into the prisons to pray with and to comfort and to encourage their fellow laborers to remain faithful even to the point of death, simply by associating with the imprisoned believers caused them to be put in jail as well. When the Bible commands us to allow strangers to eat and stay in our homes, when people did that to traveling Christians, it meant that the entire family might be subject to losing everything they had up to and including their own lives. Now with so much danger, so much risk during those formative years of the church, you would think that God would cut them a little slack out of love. He would suspend His command for His people to visit the jails and to open their homes to strangers. And yet we find just the opposite was true. The collective testimony of the early church was that many saints, most of whom we will never even know their names until we get over there, voluntarily, gladly, joyfully risked everything their own even their lives and the lives of their wives and children, so as to be faithful to the clear command of the Savior, who had said in John 15, 18-20, if the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you were not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. So by going to Pilate to ask for Jesus' body, this well-respected, wealthy Joseph was voluntarily risking everything he had so that he could be associated with Jesus. And no doubt as Joseph was working up the courage to go to Pilate to ask for Jesus' body, the words of Jesus were ringing in his ears. when Jesus said, If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me in My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Dear friends, do not look at what you might lose in your effort to be faithful to Jesus. You came into this world naked and you will leave naked. And everything you own right now is a gracious gift from a loving Savior to you who are unworthy to own it. Do not say, what will happen to me if I am faithful to Jesus? Rather say, what will happen to Jesus? What will happen to His great name and to His honor and glory if I am not faithful to Him? Now there is much talk about commitment in the modern church. It seems that every church is looking for people to be committed. But I will tell you that human commitment is the last thing God looks for. God isn't looking for heroes or people who are brave. God is seeking to save people who have been shown how weak they really are. God is looking for spiritually poor people who have been gifted by God to understand there is no good thing in them. God is seeking for people who have been blessed to understand that Christianity is not about us becoming a giant, but that we serve a Savior who is greater than any giant. Jesus doesn't choose people who desire to be made much of, but people who have been graced to come to the end of themselves. Strange people who are broken and of a contrite spirit, and those who tremble at God's Word. And people like that are not committed. Serving the Lord Christ is not about psyching yourself up. It isn't about think and grow rich. Serving Jesus is about surrendering. It isn't about struggling to get to the top so you can be first. It is about struggling to go down to the bottom to serve and so that others may go ahead of you. And people like that are not committed. They are willing to die for Jesus. People like that are willing to perish rather than sin. They would rather lose it all and have Jesus than gain it all and lose Jesus. We must understand that this sin-cursed world is not impressed with your financial success, or your courage, or your disciplined life. The world will not be impressed with your knowledge of the Bible, or your healthy body, or your material possessions. What the world longs to see is that the collective testimony of the Christian church is this, Jesus is better than anything I can own in this life, and that makes Him better than anything that evil people can take away from me. And when that becomes true, they will begin to recognize that you have been with Jesus. So without knowing what might happen, Joseph overcame his fear and risked it all to ask for the body of Jesus. But instead of being imprisoned or instead of being killed, instead of having all of his earthly goods confiscated, all that happened this time was that Pilate gave Joseph the body of Jesus. Now, in John 19.39, the Apostle John tells us that not only Joseph risked everything, but that another Jewish ruler also came to the body of Jesus. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds of weight. So here was the ruler of the Jews who in John 3 had come to Jesus by night to discuss what the miracle of the new birth was really all about. And here he is also helping Joseph with the body of Jesus, risking everything by associating himself with the crucified Lord. So even though there is no hint in John 3 that Nicodemus believed, the fact that he is mentioned here with the dead body of Jesus proves that he did believe. And then Luke tells us this. 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. But the apostle Levi gives us additional information. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb which had been hewn out of the rock and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. So here we see that the tomb in which Jesus was laid was actually Joseph's personal burial place. And so Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb. Now normally the Romans took the dead Jews who had been crucified and they threw them into a ditch. And this was the final insult against people the Romans considered to be filth. No funeral, no final preparation, no wrappings. They just threw them into a ditch. And as a Jew who had been crucified, Jesus would have been just thrown into a ditch had Joseph and Nicodemus not intervened. So without overcoming their fear of their conversion being known, the sinless Lord of glory would have been unceremoniously thrown into a ditch. But what is even more important than these two men overcoming their fear is that all of this was a fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. Isaiah had spoken about 600 years earlier. His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. So even though the original assignment for Jesus was to be thrown into a ditch along with all the other Jews who were criminals, God moved upon Joseph to allow this section of God's Word to be fulfilled. Now there were various types of rock tombs in the first century, and so we're not certain just how this one was set up. But what we do know is that it was large enough for people to actually walk into it. After the resurrection, the apostle John wrote this in John 20 verses 3b through 6. Peter and the other disciple went forth and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter, came to the tomb first and stooping and looking in. He saw the linen wrappings lying there but he did not go in and so Simon Peter also came following him and entered the tomb and he saw the linen linen wrappings lying there. So John was able to stoop to look into the tomb while Peter was able to actually walk into it. Lots of legends surrounding this. One of the legends is that Emperor Constantine ordered that a church be built over the original site of the burial place of Jesus Christ. And it very well may be that that is the site, but we don't know that. That's a legend. It has become, like all legends, it's become basically fact because it's been talked about so much. There isn't incontrovertible evidence that where people will tell you this is the burial place of Jesus, that that is actually the burial place. It may be. We don't know that for certain. Now some carved tombs had a small shelf on the far side that was carved out of the rock where the dead were laid and this may have been the way it was with Jesus. So both Joseph and Nicodemus allowed for Jesus's body to be properly prepared for death and then they would have carried his body into the tomb and placed it on this carved shelf. Now the large stone that was rolled against the entrance of the tomb was a huge limestone boulder and it was carved to fit tight against the opening so animals could not get in. Now look at what Dr. Luke wrote. It was the preparation day and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with him out of Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes, and on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. Now this is huge. And I'm not going to be able to finish this today, but this is a big deal. That's why Luke has it in the Gospel account. Now, we usually begin our days in the morning when we rise. But during the creation in the book of Genesis, God began the first 24-hour division of time like this. And there was evening and there was morning one day. So a day begins at sundown and goes until the next sundown. So in the Old Testament each 24 hour division of time called a day goes from sundown to sundown. So the Old Testament Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and extends until sundown on Saturday. Now the Bible tells us that Jesus died about 3 p.m. on that particular Friday. And so by the time they got Him off the cross and washed His body and anointed Him with the spices and wrapped Him for burial, sundown was fast approaching. And so there was an urgency to finish this task before the Sabbath began at sundown. And Luke is careful to tell us that their efforts paid off and they completed their task of preparing Jesus for burial just before the sun set on that Friday and the Sabbath was upon them. And this was all about prophecy that we'll learn about next week. So even though these first few moments immediately after the death of Jesus by crucifixion had to be the most troubling and confusing time for the disciples, God was very busy at work fulfilling His Word, and demonstrating great signs and wonders, and also by fulfilling the main thrust of Jesus' entire ministry, to seek and to save that which was lost. Amen. Let's pray.