The book of Acts is essentially the story of the establishment of the church. The name Acts of the Apostles is sort of misleading. It’s not meant to be a biographical account of the apostles as much as it is an account of the establishment of the church by the apostles.

And so as we begin this study of the book of Acts, it is important that we understand what the church is. God has a blueprint for the church. God has a plan for the church. And that plan is not subject to our ideas of how we might improve upon it. We are constantly being bombarded today with modern ideas of how we might improve upon the church, how we might modernize it, or how we might make it more accessible, or how we might make it more relevant to our modern culture.

The problem with that kind of thinking is that it is man’s wisdom. And the power of the church is that it is built and relies upon God’s wisdom, not man’s. Only by reliance upon God’s wisdom and God’s power can we ever hope to possibly win the world. And His wisdom is found in His word and proclaimed through the preaching of His people.

That’s what 1Cor. 1:18-25 is talking about, which says, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Last week in the preceding passage we said that Jesus gave His last instructions in regards to the church before handing over the stewardship of it to the apostles. And in that message we pointed out that it was necessary to have the right message, which was the Word of Christ, the right confidence in the resurrection power of God, the right kind of power, which was the Holy Spirit, the right timing, the right mission and the right motive. Now today we are going to see that if you are going to build God’s church you need to have the right men. The right kind of leadership.

I was talking to someone this week about the typical process that is often used today to call a pastor, or choose a pastor for a church. And I pointed out that unfortunately, the call of God upon a man to pastor a church has largely been disregarded in lieu of some sort of popularity contest. I watched a church recently choose a pastor, or whatever kind of title this church called their pastor, and they used a pastor search committee that was made up of people who were chosen for their social standing in the community, but at least some of whom were unsaved. I’ve seen pastor search committees hire pastors based on their personalities, based on whether or not they were entertaining speakers, based on their looks and one fleshly characteristic after another. Using that type of criteria, it is doubtful that the average evangelical church today would call into the pastorate the Apostle Paul. He was a hunch backed, beak nosed, bald headed old man who more than likely was half blind and was considered contemptible in appearance, probably because he had running sores in his eyes.

They need to be reminded that when Israel, which is the OT picture of the church, sought a king, the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Now the first church is about to be formed within a week or so of Christ’s ascension, almost all the necessary ingredients are in place except that there is still a need to have the right men. And who are the right men? They are the apostles. The twelve. They will form the foundation of the church. Ephesians 2:20 says that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. This building made up of living individuals is built of the foundation of the 12 apostles and the prophets. That simply means that the word of Christ that these men preached would be the foundation that the church is to be built upon.

So if the church is not made of brick and mortar but of people, then it stands to reason that the right foundation will be made up of people as well. But only a certain type of person qualifies as an apostle. Contrary to some of the church signage you might see in certain areas of Sussex County, there are no modern day apostles. Peter makes it clear in this passage what qualifies one to be an apostle. Look at vs. 21-22 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us– beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us–one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

In order then for one to be a true apostle he had to have been with Jesus from the very beginning of His ministry – taught by Christ since the days of John the Baptist, and he had to have seen the risen Lord. That was the criteria set forth by Peter and accepted by the rest of the apostles.

Now let’s back up for a moment and remind ourselves of why this selection was even necessary. Jesus had appointed 12 disciples. But from the very beginning Jesus had known that one of them was a devil. Peter said in vs.16 that it was necessary, scripture had to be fulfilled. Vs.16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

What scriptures is Peter talking about that prophesied Judas’s betrayal? Well, for starters there are a couple in Psalms. For instance, Psalm 41:9 “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.” And then another in Psalm 55:12-14 “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together Walked in the house of God in the throng.”

But Peter says not only did the scriptures prophesy that Judas would betray Jesus, but it also prophesied that his office should be replaced. And to validate that Peter quotes from two other places in the Psalms, chapter 69 and chapter 109, respectfully. He says in vs. 20, “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE, AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT’; and, ‘LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.’

And Luke inserts a bit of historical information about Judas that we will mention but not belabor, since we dealt thoroughly with Judas when we were in Luke. But he mentions that after Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver he went out and hung himself. But it would seem that when he did so, the limb broke and he fell some distance and his body ruptured from the impact and all his intestines gushed out. That would have caused a great deal of blood to spill out on the ground. And the scripture says everyone who lived in Jerusalem heard about it.

Matt. 27:4-8 adds a little more detail, saying that after Judas’s betrayal, he went back to the high priests and said “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.”

So the end result is that now that Judas is gone and as the apostles are waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the commencement of the church, they want to fulfill the prophecy concerning replacing Judas with another disciple to take his office. They believe that Christ’s intention was to have 12 apostles and one position is now vacant and so Peter stands and says, one of these men who were with us from the beginning until the day the Lord ascended into heaven must replace the position formerly held by Judas.

Now if you are going to choose the right man for leadership in the church, it is important that you use the right criteria. Peter lays out the right criteria. First and foremost, the person had to have been with the Lord Jesus. He had to have been there from the beginning to the end. He had to have been a witness to all that Jesus said and did during His ministry on earth. He needed to have been taught directly by the Lord Himself. Christ’s message was what the Apostles would take to the ends of the earth. Peter would say later that they were eyewitnesses of His glory. 2Pet. 1:16 “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” If the world was going to believe these men, it was important that they had been eyewitnesses of Christ.

And because they had known the Lord and been with the Lord for all of His ministry, they were able to preach the word of Christ. And in order to validate that message as having come from the Lord, they were given power to perform miracles. It says in 2 Cor. 12:12 “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.” They are given the apostolic gift to do signs and wonders so that they can validate that they were the true representatives of Christ by the miracles that they did.

So to be a leader in God’s church you must meet the right criteria. I have to say that I am dismayed at the popular practice in many churches today to create all sorts of leadership positions for the church that God never established. And to make it worse, since these positions are not articulated in the Bible, they don’t feel that they need to meet any sort of Biblical criteria. Consequently, we have people in leadership positions in the church that have escaped all the requirements set out for Biblical leadership. Let me be clear; I’m talking about worship leaders, Sunday school directors, youth leaders, small group leaders, etc, etc. Far too often these people are selected based on how they look with a guitar and wearing skinny jeans rather than due to meeting any prescribed Biblical criteria.

As far as the Bible is concerned, there are only 2 positions established for church leadership. One is elders and the other is deacons. We’re going to be looking at the criteria the Apostles used to select the first deacons in just a few weeks or so. But let me just say this much, in order to wait on tables in the church the apostles set forth a stringent criteria that included being men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, and at least two of them were soul winning preachers; Stephen and Philip. Now that was what was involved in the criteria for waiting on tables. So when the church turns over our preaching and teaching and leading worship to people who have not been tested, as Paul instructed Timothy, to make sure that they are above reproach, to meet the Biblical criteria, then we are at the very least jeopardizing the ministry and mission of the church as Christ prescribed it.

So if you are going to select the right men for leadership in the church, you not only need the right criteria but you need to have the right process. And I just want to quickly go through the process that the apostles used to select this man. This is the process we need to use as well in order to make godly decisions. First of all, they were obedient to Christ’s commands. He told them in vs. 4 not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. And they were obedient to His commands. They waited several days in the upper room. It says in 1 Sam. 15:22, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.” If you want to know God’s will then you need to be being obedient to the commands of God, and to the criteria of God.

Secondly, they were in fellowship. It says in vs. 13 that all the 11 apostles were together, Jesus’ brothers were there, the women who had been following Jesus were there, and all together there were 120 people. Now that was the first church; 120 people. They were together in fellowship. This was a 24/7 church. They didn’t leave the upper room. This was church fellowship. They were together waiting on the Lord, worshipping together. Folks, if obedience is number one in importance, then I believe church fellowship is number 2. If you don’t commit to be in church regularly and faithfully then I don’t think you are going to be making the right kind of decisions in the rest of your life either. The first step into error is directly tied to skipping the local fellowship with believers in church.

Thirdly, it says in vs. 14 that they were continually devoting themselves to prayer. Listen, make note of this; prayer is seeking God’s will. Prayer is not demanding your will to God like a petulant child. Jesus set the example for prayer on two occasions. First was the model prayer. He prayed, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Second was His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” That’s the key to Biblical prayer. We pray not for God’s blessing on our will, on our decisions, but we pray that God would establish His will in our lives.

Fourthly, they were in the word of God. Man! This is good, isn’t it? What a recipe! Be obedient, be in fellowship, be in prayer and be in the word. Peter had been reading the word. Listen, you have to be a student of the word to find the references that he found concerning Judas’s office. We are told to search the scriptures. To study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that don’t need to be ashamed. Folks, if you can’t show someone how to be saved by using the Bible then you ought to be ashamed. If you can’t give a Biblical reason for the hope that is within you then you should be ashamed. The Bible is our wisdom, it is our guidebook, our rulebook, our food, our drink. Get in the word.

Fifthly, they relied on God’s decision. Now there are three steps that they took to make sure it was God’s decision. First, it says in vs. 23 that they put forward two men who fit the criteria: Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. They didn’t have a beauty contest, they found men who fit the criteria. And then it says in vs. 24, they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And then they used a method to select the right person which revealed and depended upon the decision of God. They took the decision out of their hands and put it in God’s hands. Vs. 25, “And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.”

Now the casting of lots may not be a way that we are told to make decisions today, but at that time it was the way God led them to do it. In Old Testament times God often used this procedure to show who He selected. In the book of Proverbs it says in Chapter 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the Lord.” There are numerous OT examples of God using this method of determination. But while we may not use that method today, the principle is still valid. We need to seek God’s decision and not according to our own wisdom. I believe that the Bible teaches that the word of God is sufficient for all knowledge and all wisdom. The apostles at that point did not have the full, complete revelation of God that we have available to us today. But Peter makes it clear that we have the knowledge which comes through the scripture for all faith and practice. 2Pet. 1:3-4 “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

And Paul writing to Timothy says that we have everything we need in scripture to equip us for every good work. 2Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

So Matthias was added to the eleven apostles and now the foundation of the church was complete. The time had come for God to pour out His Spirit on the church, baptizing them all through the Holy Spirit into one body. That body was the church, founded on the word and deeds of the apostles and built living stone upon living stone into a temple of the Lord. And we shall see next week how that begins. I hope you will make plans to be here for that. In the meantime, let us be as the apostles were, walking in obedience, staying in fellowship, devoting ourselves to prayer, reading the word, and seeking God’s will in all our decisions.

We begin today a new study, a new series if you will, that is the book of Acts. It is a monumental task. If I thought too much ahead of time about what will be involved in preaching through Acts I would doubtless be overwhelmed by the enormity of the scope of this book. I have purposefully avoided it for almost 10 years now. But today we have come to it, and I believe we have come to it in just the right time.

One reason I believe it’s the right time is we have just finished a 2 ½ year journey through the Gospel of Luke. And Luke is the same writer of the book of Acts. It is a continuation, volume 2 if you will of what Luke set out to do. In Luke 1 he stated that “having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.” Then in Acts 1 we see Luke continue to write volume 2 to Theophilus. Vs. 1, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach…”

We don’t know who Theophilus was, but the title given in Luke suggests that he was a high official, perhaps even someone who was defending Paul before Rome. But I think it more likely that he was simply a Christian, however an eminent member of Roman government. The name Theophilus by the way meant lover of God.

But as we read the opening verses of Acts it is apparent that Luke overlaps some information at the beginning. When we concluded Luke we looked at the ascension of Christ and we even referenced some of the material found here. So I don’t want to strictly speak on the ascension again, since we covered it thoroughly in the past weeks.

However, what I do want to do today is to give a little bit of an introduction and overview of the book and explain the significance of what happens after the ascension of Christ. Acts is not simply history. It is an important transition between the Gospels and the Epistles. In the Gospels we see the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. His teaching, His word is presented, the gospel is proclaimed; and in the Epistles we see the gospel explained.

But what happens in between in Acts is essential to understanding our relation to the gospel. Our responsibility to the gospel. As the gospels are the account of Christ’s ministry, so Acts is the account of the disciples ministry as Jesus passes the torch to them. . It is the account of the way the Holy Spirit, coming upon the apostles, working through the church, continued what Jesus began to do, the story of how they carried on the work which was initiated during the days of his incarnation. As we will see in Acts, the Holy Spirit now begins to fulfill the designed program of God. He begins to carry on Christ’s work through the reincarnated body of Jesus Christ—the church—the body by which the Lord intends to reach out to the uttermost parts of the earth.

That work began after the ascension of Christ 2000 years ago, and it still continues today, even right here through this local body. And that is why I think it is so pertinent that we begin to study the book of Acts at this time. I believe we may be at a juncture in our history when we move from being discipled as this small group, to a time when the power of the Holy Spirit is poured out upon you and I, so that we might build His church and proclaim the gospel through each one of you in a more emboldened and effective way than we ever have before.

If you think about it that way you might see the similarities between our churches situation and the apostles. They had just finished being taught the words of Jesus for 3 years. And as well you folks have just completed almost 3 years of in depth study in the words of Christ through our study in Luke. You know as much or even more than the apostles knew at this point. And yet it is at this point that Jesus leaves them, passing the baton so to speak to them to carry on His ministry. And they would do so to a certain extent in an even greater fashion than He did. Jesus said that, didn’t He? In John 14:12 Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” And that was certainly fulfilled by the fact that Jesus preached the gospel to the Jews only, but through His disciples the gospel has been preached throughout the whole world, to every nation, and every tongue.

So the responsibility for the proclamation of the gospel and the establishment of the church passes from Jesus to the apostles. We see the Lord now pass the baton to His disciples. You know, these apostles aren’t much different than you and I. They’re just simple working men. About seven of them were fishermen. And not only are they the most unlikely people to do this task, but they don’t seem well suited to it either. They were uneducated. They had demonstrated weak faith. They had not always been the most obedient disciples.

They weren’t exactly the greatest prayer warriors. On the night of Jesus’ trial, He asked them to pray with Him for one hour and yet they fell asleep. In fact, that very night they all ran away when Jesus was arrested. Peter, their leader publicly denied Him three times. All of them deserted Him in His greatest hour of need. But these are the very men that Jesus hands over His ministry to. He entrusts all that He had done and all that He wanted to accomplish to this ragtag band of disciples. They were the unlikely ones that He entrusted to take His gospel to the world.

And so I would challenge you folks here today to see yourselves in this same light. I believe that God has you here in this place for such a time as this. God’s plan is that you would be witnesses of His gospel to the world, starting right here in this community, through this church. There are no rock stars here nor rocket scientists. But God has chosen you, the weak things, to confound the mighty, to carry on His ministry, to build His church.

I’m sure that the disciples thought that was an overwhelming mission. I’m sure that they felt inadequate for the job. And perhaps you feel that way as well. I know I have been feeling inadequate lately as I consider the obstacles to building this church. I sometimes find myself thinking of all the failures in our progress so far. When I think of all the people who I have failed to really disciple, those that fell away after a time, or those who did not come to be saved, it is discouraging. I was looking the other day at a super market that was closing. And I have often thought that building would make a great building to convert into a church. And now just the other day I saw that it is closing and up for rent. Yet from a human standpoint it is completely out of our league. We don’t have enough people to fill a quarter of it, much less be able to afford to lease it.

But then I thought of this church that starts in Jerusalem with the 11 apostles who are basically hiding out in a room and whom Jesus leaves with instructions to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. And I remembered how that when the Holy Spirit was poured out on them, God added 3000 people to the church in just one day. Peter stood up to preach on the day of Pentecost and before he got half way through the message, people were crying out, “what do we have to do to be saved?” Within a few days the number had swelled to 5000 or more.

So I was encouraged by that as I was reminded that with man it may seem impossible, but with God all things are possible. Yet the question is, what prompted this great revival? What caused them to go from being discouraged disciples on the brink of scattering to becoming men who were turning the world upside down? Well the short answer is that what happened was God sent them the Holy Spirit to indwell them as the church and empower them for the job of building the church.

So what we see laid out here in these first 11 verses of Acts is Christ’s last instructions He gives to the Apostles to prepare them for this great moving of the Holy Spirit, in order to effectively build His church and carry out His mission in His absence. And I believe they are instructive for us as well as we consider our mission to build this church. There are six things here in this passage which serve as a checklist for the mission we are to take up for Christ.

Number one, if you’re going to effectively build Christ’s church you need to have the right message. Vs. 1, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.” Notice it says that Jesus began to do and teach. In order to effectively carry on Christ’s ministry, you have to have the right message. And that message has to be the message of Christ. It has to be the word of Christ that is preached. We can’t build a church on empty philosophy, or on men’s wisdom, or men’s strategy. If we’re going to build the church, we can only build the church on the truth of the gospel.

But not only does Luke emphasize what Jesus taught, but what Jesus did. If we are going to be used by God to build His church, we not only need the right message but to be the right messenger. A skeptic once said, “Show me your redeemed life, and I might be inclined to believe in your Redeemer.” We have to practice what we preach. That’s what discipleship is all about. Walking out what you have been taught. That’s what makes the gospel believable and attractive to the world. Not trying to attract the world by offering them a religious facsimile of the world, but by showing them the power of the gospel through a transformed life.

Secondly, if you are going to effectively carry out Christ’s mission you need the right kind of confidence. Vs. 3, “To these, he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over 40 days.” How did these scared disciples hiding out in an upper room suddenly have the confidence to do the things they did? Where did their confidence come from? Their confidence came from being witnesses of His resurrection. They now realized that Jesus had the power over death and hell. Nothing could kill Him. Nothing could hold Him. So by extension that power was given to them. And we can have that same confidence because the record of His resurrection was confirmed by over 500 people over the course of 40 days and recorded in the infallible scriptures. The confidence of the resurrection not only provides assurance that Christ is sovereign, but it provides us with the confidence that we also will endure beyond the grave. That the gates of Hell can not prevail against Christ’s church. That whatever sufferings that we might be called upon to share with Christ even though they might result in our death of our body we can have confidence that we also will be resurrected with a glorified body as was Christ.

Thirdly, if they were to effectively carry out the ministry of Christ they needed to have the right power. Verse 4. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Back in Luke’s gospel, chapter 24, we read that Jesus added, “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” The Holy Spirit is given to the disciples so that they might have the power to do what God has commissioned them to do. This is such an important principle and yet I’m afraid it is so misunderstood. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to take the Spirit of Christ and distribute it to the church, so that they might have the power of Christ available to perform the ministry of Christ.

So many people today short change the ministry of the Holy Spirit by focusing on the wrong things. As I said last week, the Holy Spirit isn’t given to us so that we might feel saved, but that we might be saved, and that we might act saved. Jesus said in John’s gospel that the Holy Spirit is given to be our helper. We cannot do the work in our own strength. He is called the Spirit of truth. He will teach us all things. He opens our minds to understand the scriptures. He brings about conviction in the hearts and minds of the world. He changes our nature. He opens our eyes. He gives the gift of repentance. He distributes the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that we will be equipped to do what is necessary to do in order to build the church. Not for our own edification. That is; not to make us feel holy or look holy. But He gives gifts to build up the church so that she might be holy.

Then notice verse 5. “John baptized you with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Now that is not talking about water baptism. He literally says you’re going to be submerged with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.   He was talking about the day of Pentecost, which was just a few days away. Notice that He is not telling the apostles to somehow get baptized in the Holy Spirit. This isn’t telling them to seek it, pray for it, plead for it. This is a statement of fact. It’s something that happens to all believers as part of their conversion. But what it is referring to here is submersion or a filling of the Holy Spirit. To be washed by the Holy Spirit and be filled with the Holy Spirit. To have the Holy Spirit indwell us.

The word baptism signifies identification with the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:13. “For by one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and we’re all made to drink of one Spirit.” As the body of Christ we are literally engulfed in the Holy Spirit. John refers to the Holy Spirit as the anointing which we have from God who teaches us all things. Another example of that is found in 1Cor. 10:1-4 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.”

Remember that I told you last Wednesday night that the children of Israel are a picture of the church? Well, here in that passage we see the picture of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They were all baptized into Moses, in the cloud, that is the Shekina glory that followed them and engulfed the tabernacle. It was the presence of God in the midst of them. Jesus now says we are baptized in the Holy Spirit so that we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. In Moses day the cloud led them by day as in our day the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. With Moses they all ate the same spiritual food. Jesus said in John 6:63 “my words are Spirit and they are life.” The Holy Spirit feeds us with the word of God and provides us with the water of life. The Holy Spirit is the power that we need to effectively build the church of Christ. Not by human might, not by human power, but by My Spirit says the Lord. (Zec. 4:6)

Fourthly, if we are to build Christ’s church effectively we must have the right timing. Vs. 6, So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The apostles were still looking for the physical kingdom of God to be set up on the throne of David. Their eschatology was still not in line with what Christ was doing. But Jesus doesn’t debunk their eschatology, nor does He stop and give them a detailed blow by blow of what was going to happen in the future. He did that as far as He intended to do it back in Luke 21. God doesn’t have to explain the future to us in any more detail than that. Our job is to wait on the Lord. To be about the business of being a witness. Luke 19:13. He said, “Do business with this until I come back.” He taught that we are to occupy until He comes, to , “Work, for the night is coming.” To lay up treasures in heaven while we are on earth. To invest now in the kingdom of God.

God is in charge of God’s timing. We are to be about what He has commissioned us to do. And as we see in this passage, that involves waiting on the Lord. He is the One who has the power to turn men’s hearts. At the right time God poured out His Holy Spirit and the church grew and was established. We just need to be a witness and let God take care of the results. God will build His church in His time and in His way. We just need to be found faithful witnesses when He comes.

That leads us to the fifth point if we want to be effectively building God’s church – we need the right mission. Vs. 8, “when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The word witness in the Greek is the word “martys” which is the word we get martyrs from. The word witness came to be the word martyr because so many witnesses to the gospel died. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross.” Being a witness of Christ in those days might just cost you your life.

I think that there was a degree of commitment in the early church that we simply do not have today. They had to be willing to leave their families oftentimes if they were to accept Christ. They had to be willing to lose their jobs or even their homes. And they had to be willing to possibly be martyred for their faith. The culture at that time did not accept Christianity. The Jews wanted to silence them and the Gentile culture was completely pagan. So there was no friendship with the world whatsoever. But that level of commitment I think caused the zeal for the house of God to consume them and give everything for the cause of Christ. And that level of commitment is what the Lord will use.

I think that we are fast approaching that type of animosity towards the church today in our culture. Christianity has lost whatever social acceptance that it once had in America. Today if you preach the gospel the way the apostles did you are labeled as hateful, unloving, homophobic, intolerant and so forth. But we need to remember that the world is our mission field and not our enemy. We can build the kingdom of God the same way the early church did, through the power of the Holy Spirit by preaching the truth and being consistent in our testimony.

The final point in effective church building is we need to have the right motive. Vs. 9, And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” Their motive for building the kingdom of Christ is that He is coming back in the clouds the same way He went away.

Our motive for being faithful in our work of the kingdom is that when we stand before God we will hear “well done good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful in a few things, I will set you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your Master.” Christ has given us a mission, a stewardship, to carry on His ministry here on earth until the day He returns for us. I hope that you consider that mission your priority here on earth. If we have as our priority the things of God, our priority the caretaking of His church, then I believe that God will increase our stewardship corresponding to our investment. To him who has, more shall be given.

I don’t want you to be concerned about building with stone and mortar. We are not given the mission of building edifices or temples made with hands. But we are given the task of building up the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, His church. And all of us are given that task. We are all commissioned to be ministers of Christ. It’s an overwhelming task from a human point of view. But we do not strive by the flesh, but in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the timing of God, and in the strength of His might. And when we do that, then God will build His church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.

I’m sure you all have heard of the movie that came out recently in the theaters called “Left Behind.” As you may know, it is from a book series that has been around for quite a while actually, by a Christian author named Tim LaHaye. In case you’re not familiar with the story line, the basic premise is that there is a divine event called the rapture in which all Christians mysteriously disappear and the series deals with the people on earth that are left behind to deal with the tribulation events.

Well, at the risk of offending some of you, I think that may make for entertaining novels or movies, but I believe it’s bad theology. Or more precisely, bad eschatology. Just for the record, I don’t subscribe to the rapture theology, but I do believe in the second coming of Christ, and I do believe in the resurrection of the dead.

Now I say all of that, not to start a fight with anyone over their pet doctrine, but because I wanted to title my message today, “Left Behind,” and I wanted to disassociate it right away from that book series. But the Biblical context for “left behind” that we are going to look at today is found in this passage which recounts for us the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’m not going to try to somehow turn this into a sermon on the end times, but rather I want you to consider the ramifications of Christ’s resurrection. Because Christ’s resurrection is the keystone of our faith.

Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians that Christ’s resurrection sets a precedent for our own resurrection. So it is important that we understand how that works. Look at 1Cor. 15:20-24, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.” Notice the phrase, “first fruits.” Christ is the first fruits in regards to the resurrection. That means He was the first to be raised from the dead to a glorified life. And as He was raised, so will the dead in Christ be raised.

If it were not for Christ’s resurrection, then Christianity would be of no consequence. All that Jesus came to teach about the kingdom of God would have been invalidated if He had not risen from the dead. The ministry of Jesus would have been a failure. If He had not been raised from the dead, then atonement would not have been enacted for sins. If He had not been raised from the dead, then His sacrifice would not have been deemed sufficient by the righteous Judge. In fact, if He had not been raised from the dead, then He had not been sinless as we had hoped, nor was He the Son of God. Paul goes on to say in I Cor. 15:17-19 “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”

So no wonder that His followers were disillusioned after His death. It’s no wonder that they were scared and holed up in a room hiding out from the rulers of the Jews. In spite of all that Jesus had prophesied concerning His death and resurrection, they were totally unprepared for it, and were completely without comprehension of it’s meaning. As far as they were concerned, everything that they had believed about Christ and the kingdom of God had gone down the drain when Jesus was arrested and crucified.

But conversely, what His resurrection signified was everything. It was hope of the greatest magnitude. It may have still taken them a little while for His followers to grasp the full implications of it all, but the fact of His resurrection meant hope. It meant assurance of salvation. It meant forgiveness of sins. It meant victory over death. No wonder the disciples were filled with power after the Holy Spirit came upon them and no wonder that they were bold to preach the gospel even at the cost of their lives. Because they now knew that their Savior, the Lord Jesus, had the power over death. He had the keys of death and Hades. He had triumphed over sin and the devil. And now, because they were His, there was no fear of death for them.

You know, obviously great technological advances have been made in the last 2000 years. We can do so many things today; cars, airplanes, traveling to the moon, instantly able to talk by computer to people thousands of miles away. Incredible technology is available to our modern society that would have been unimaginable for the average person 2000 years ago. But one thing technology has never been able to overcome, and they never will. Despite all the advances of society, mankind still cannot escape the hopelessness of death.

In fact, I believe that part of the reason for the hopelessness we see so often evidenced in our youth today is that though technology has made pleasure and fulfillment of our passions and entertainment more rapidly available, yet ironically it only serves to enable the average young person to find out by age 20 what it took our grandfathers a lifetime to find out: that the temporary pleasures of this world are unfulfilling and without the hope of eternal life there is no point to life at all.

So though the story of the gospel is 2000 years old, still the resurrection is a message that should resonate with every man, woman and child. Because the fact is that death has to still be faced by every person as Heb. 9:27 says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” But the hope of the gospel is that though Jesus died as a man, the just for the unjust, yet He rose again as the first fruits of those that believe in Him. He died and rose again so that man might have the hope of life after death.

So I want to look at the resurrection today from the perspective of what Jesus accomplished through it. Rather than just regurgitating the historical narrative, I would like to try to bring out a series of simple truths that can be framed through the lens of what Jesus left behind. When Jesus rose from the dead, He left behind some things. And in so doing, His resurrection reveals certain things we can leave behind as well, as He is the first fruits. And as He was, so will we be.

To start with, when Jesus rose from the dead He left behind the darkness. Look at vs. 1, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.” One of the saddest sights I have ever seen was passing by a graveyard at night I noticed a grave marker here or there illuminated with a little light. As if the surviving relatives were trying to give some measure of comfort to the bones and dust kept there inside the coffin. But I am afraid that there is no light that can reach six foot down through the darkness inside that coffin, except one. And that is the light of the world that is Jesus Christ. Through His resurrection Jesus vanquished the darkness.

Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” John said that Jesus “was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” So the first simple truth that is established because of the resurrection is that Christ has vanquished the darkness of the shadow of death. He is the light of the world that gives light and life to all who believe.

Secondly, when Jesus rose from the dead He left behind the Sabbath and all the ceremonial laws that had been a burden to the Jews. Peter referred to these ordinances in Acts chapter 15 as a yoke that neither they nor their fathers had been able to bear. Notice vs. 1 says, “on the first day of the week…” As I pointed out last time, Jesus body lay in the tomb on the Sabbath day. His body kept the last Sabbath under the Old Covenant but His Spirit was alive and about the Father’s business in Paradise. But with the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week, the early church put away the Sabbath celebrated the day of resurrection in the new covenant as the Lord’s Day.

The Sabbath, and all the attendant ceremonial laws were foreshadows of what was fulfilled in Christ. We saw earlier how Christ was the fulfillment of the Passover Feast. We don’t keep the Passover today, because it was fulfilled by Christ who was the Passover Lamb. Today we keep Communion, or the Lord’s Supper. If you remember Christ changed the Passover to the Lord’s Supper in the upper room on the night before His crucifixion. And similarly, the Apostles changed the observance of the Sabbath to a celebration of His resurrection on the Lord’s Day.

Paul said in Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day– things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” So the resurrection of Christ left behind the ceremonial laws, the dietary laws, the Sabbath and festival laws, the sacrificial laws, all of those things which were a mere shadow of what was to come, that is Christ who fulfilled those foreshadows. Now Hebrews tells us, we no longer need the shadows, for the fullness is now realized in Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, in His resurrection Jesus left behind an open tomb. Vs. 2, “And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.” What does the open tomb signify? It simply signifies that Jesus has made a way to escape death. Paul tells the Corinthians that for those who are in Christ Jesus, death will not have dominion over them, but Christ has given us the victory over death. 1Cor. 15:51-54 “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.”

Fourthly, when Jesus rose from the dead, He left behind His grave clothes. John 20:6-7 adds some more detail to Luke’s account. John said “Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.”

Why do the gospel writers bother telling us about the grave clothes and the face cloth? I can assure you it was not to lend some sort of credence to the fairy tale of the shroud of Turin. But I would suggest that it is a picture of leaving the trappings of the old man in the grave and the new life that comes through Jesus Christ. Isaiah 61:10, “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.” So therefore, according to Eph. 4, those that are in Christ Jesus are to lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, (the old corrupt, dead garments of the flesh) and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

Paul likens it to being awakened from the dead. Rom 13:11-14 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Fifthly, when Jesus arose from the dead, He left behind witnesses. Vs. 4-7 “While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

At the birth of Christ we saw many appearances of angels, heralding His birth to the shepherds, announcing His birth to His parents and various people. Now at His resurrection it is only appropriate that we see angels attending this occasion as well. In the various gospel accounts, there are descriptions of angels sitting at the foot and the head of where He had lain, there are descriptions of angels as young men, there are descriptions here in Luke of angels in dazzling apparel. And some cynics that would point all of that out as some sort of discrepancy of the gospels. But what I think is actually going on here is that for a short time at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the veil between this world and the spiritual world is pulled back, and there are seen angels all over the place, appearing and then reappearing. Appearing in various forms. But their purpose is to minister to Christ’s followers. That is the purpose of angels. Hebrews 1:14 tells us that angels are “all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation.” So they appear to announce the good news to the confused an bedazzled group of followers of Christ.

And they are not the only witnesses. Paul says in I Cor.15:3-8 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

And because of those witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, we too are to be witnesses to the world of the good news of the gospel. Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Sixthly, when Christ arose from the grave He left behind the dead. Note vs. 5, the angels said, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.” This question points to such a fundamental misunderstanding that men have concerning death. You need to understand something; death is not a state of being, it is an act. It is not a condition, it is a transition.

Contrary to what some people think, and even what one old hymn seems to teach, Jesus did not lie dormant in the grave for three days. There is an old hymn we used to sing when I was a boy called “Low in the grave He lay.” Well, His body laid in the grave. But I can tell you this for certain; Jesus wasn’t there. Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

In 1 Peter 3:18 we read that “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison.” So though He was in Paradise He was able to speak to those in prison, that is Hades, and proclaim victory over sin and death.

The Bible teaches that there is a first death: it is appointed unto every man once to die, but there is also a second death. Everyone participates in that first death. But as Jesus illustrated in His death and as He also described in the story of Lazarus and the rich man, though their body is in the grave yet in their Spirit they are alive in either Paradise or Hades.   But for the Christian there is no fear of the second death. Rev. 20:6 says, “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” So by resurrection we shall escape the second death just as Christ did. But for those that have rejected Jesus they are held in prison, which is Hades until the judgment. And then they too will be resurrected. Rev 20:13 “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”

But for those that have believed on Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they too will leave behind death and enter into everlasting life.

Finally, the resurrection of Jesus left behind despair. The last time we saw Simon Peter He was in despair. He had denied the Lord Jesus three times at His trial. He then abandoned Jesus, after having boasted that He would never fall away, He would never desert Jesus. And yet before that very night was over he had denied Christ. Peter, who was the strongest, the bravest, the most ardent in His faith. Peter, the man Jesus said He would call Rock. Peter, who would be the foundation of the church of Christ, had fallen away from Christ, swearing fiercely and denying Him three times. And afterwards in the pit of despair Peter went out and wept bitterly.

But now, when the women came back to the mourning disciples with the news that Jesus wasn’t in the tomb, the angels said He was risen, while the rest of the disciples were unbelieving, Peter got up and ran for the tomb. Vs. 12 “But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.”

Why did Peter run? I suggest Peter ran because he wanted more than anything to have his heart of despair taken away. He wanted more than anything to see His Savior. He wanted more than anything to know the joy of forgiveness for betraying His Master. I think Peter ran to the tomb crying in a mixture of hope and repentance. I can imagine Peter with tears streaming down his cheeks running through the streets in the early morning, praying aloud, “O God, if Jesus is truly risen I will never, ever leave Him again. If you will just forgive me I will serve Him with my life until the day I die!” I can only imagine the fervor and the passion that this news awakened in Peter.

I think Luke makes a colossal understatement when he says that Peter finding no body there, but only the linen garments, went away to his home marveling. I think as he considered the implications of the empty tomb Peter suddenly had joy where there had been nothing but despair and suddenly had hope when there had been only discouragement.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wonder how many of you today find yourself mired in despair over your denial of Christ? How many of you have denied Christ by what you have said, or by your actions, or by your lifestyle and now find yourself living in discouragement? I want you to know that the resurrection of Jesus can give you hope. I want you to know that Jesus sought Peter out before His ascension and let him realize reconciliation with God. Jesus gave Peter a new mission. And Peter went on to preach the first message after the resurrection and 3000 souls were saved that day. He went on to be the first pastor of the very first church. God had a plan for Peter. So no matter how badly you might think you have messed up, no matter how many times you may have denied Christ, you need to remember that Jesus came to save. He rose from the grave to provide reconciliation with God. And that reconciliation is available today to you as well.

Listen, God is not the God of the dead who have no hope, but of the living. Christ rose from the dead to redeem you from the captivity of sin, and set you free. Heb 2:14-16, 18, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. … For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

The story of the resurrection is that there is hope in Jesus Christ available for you today. That we might live no more to die in our sin, but to have life in Christ, and to have it more abundantly. I pray that today you might find the peace that comes from being right with God. Jesus is waiting. Won’t you run to Him? He will meet you and forgive you and take away your despair and leave you marveling at His grace, even as He did with Peter.

As I have alluded to many times before, Luke has an interesting way of arranging and presenting his historical account in such a way as to present an underlying allegory or symbolism that teaches a fundamental doctrine or principle of Christianity. And in today’s passage, I think we see that illustrated in the burial of Christ. The symbolism in this passage of the burial of Christ presents for us the doctrine of sanctification.

The doctrine of sanctification is one of the most essential doctrines of the gospel, but unfortunately also one of the most overlooked doctrines. Modern churches today tend to eschew teaching sanctification for fear of appearing legalistic. But I would simply remind you of what the author of Hebrews has to say about how important a doctrine it is; Heb. 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

Yet in spite of that declaration, I would dare say that the majority of people in church today would be hard pressed to be able to aptly define sanctification. I believe that this account of Jesus’ burial by Joseph of Arimathea will enable us to come to a Biblical understanding of this essential doctrine. So to that end we will look at three principles of sanctification presented in this passage; sanctification realized, sanctification symbolized, and sanctification multiplied.

First though, let’s establish the context of this account. As Jesus hung on the cross, we have seen several reactions to the crucifixion. We saw out right scorn and ridicule and hatred from various members of the crowd. But we also have seen at least two conversions; that of the thief on the cross, and the centurion. Both of these men were saved as a result of the effect of the crucifixion. However, the thief on the cross was a deathbed confession, if you will. He went to Paradise within hours of his salvation. And as to the centurion, we don’t have any more information available in scripture as to what became of him after the cross.

And there were two other groups represented there that day; the crowd which went away, returning home, lamenting the death of Jesus, and the women and acquaintances that stood afar off, watching from a distance. Now of the two latter examples, you will remember we said the crowd symbolized people who had an emotive response to the death of Christ, but they went back to their previous way of life. They were not saved, but they went away sad, without hope. And then there were the women and acquaintances that stood at a distance. You will recall that I identified these people as being disciples but wanting to stay as far away as possible from the cross and still be ok. They are examples of people today that want the assurance of Christianity, but they don’t want to get too carried away with it. Don’t let it become embarrassing. Don’t let it dominate your life. It’s what we used to call in management the 20% that will get you the 80%. Doing the least possible for the greatest possible result. That categorizes most Christians, I am afraid. Walk down the aisle, say a prayer and then you’re good to go to heaven when you die. Maybe try to come to church now and then if it doesn’t interfere with your golf game.

So that’s where we left it last time. Though we have seen some people saved, seen the thief enter into Paradise, we’ve seen nothing of sanctification. Everyone has either been just saved or saved but standing afar off or even deserting Jesus. So the Holy Spirit prompts Luke to introduce to us a new character by the name of Joseph of Arimethea as an illustration of the process of sanctification realized. That introduces the first point; sanctification realized.

Now perhaps we should start with an explanation of what sanctification is and how it fits into salvation. There are three stages to salvation. The first is justification; the act of grace, whereby God imputes to the sinner Christ’s righteousness in response to his faith. God transfers our sin to Christ and Christ’s righteousness to us. That is called justification.

The second stage of our salvation is the process of sanctification; the act of dying to sin and living for Christ. That is what is so vividly illustrated in baptism. We are buried with Christ to sin, and raised with Christ to new life in the Spirit. We are dipped under the water as a symbol of death, being buried, and raised up out of the water as symbolic of a new life in the Spirit. We die to the old man, and are raised as a new creation. Old things are passed away, all things become new. 2Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We die to the old way of life, and start living out what we have been reckoned to be spiritually.

The third stage of our salvation is glorification. The act of being transformed from our old body to a new body at the resurrection of the dead or when Christ shall appear. This is when this fleshly body will be changed, when this mortal shall put on immortality, and we shall live forever with the Lord, when we shall see Him face to face and be made like Him, to receive our inheritance to rule with Christ.

Now those three stages of salvation must happen or there is no salvation. You can’t eliminate any one of them. For instance, you can’t eliminate glorification. Paul said in 1Cor. 15:19 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” If there is no eternal reign with Christ, then we are of all men most to be pitied. Glorification is absolutely essential to salvation or there is no hope in this life. And the same can be said about the other two; justification and sanctification. We must first be made holy so that we can then live holy lives. One cannot exist without the other.

So as Luke comes to the end of the crucifixion, I believe he includes this account of Joseph of Arimethea in order to illustrate how sanctification is realized. Because in all the other examples we have seen here, sanctification is not evident. But as we have said, it is essential and I think he sees the burial of Christ as a perfect metaphor for what comprises sanctification.

Now in vs. 50 he introduces Joseph of Arimethea. Nothing has been known of this man before this text. And yet all the gospel writers include him in their accounts. Each of the gospel writers include something about him which helps us to get a complete picture of who this guy was. If you put them all together we understand first of all that he was rich. He donated a private tomb in a garden for the burial of Jesus. This would have been an appropriate burial site for a king or very wealthy individual. And furthermore, the gospels tell us he was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the 70 members of the Jewish ruling society that made up what was like the high court of Judaism. They were the ones that had conspired to put Jesus to death along with the High Priests. But what Luke and the others tell us was that Joseph did not consent with their plan of action.

But what is most significant about this man was as Luke said he was a good and righteous man who was waiting for the kingdom of God. Luke says good in the sense of spiritual goodness, and righteous – “dikaios”, the same exact word used in verse 47 of Christ. “Certainly this Man was righteous.” Jesus was righteous and Joseph was righteous. Jesus was righteous by nature, and Joseph was righteous by grace. We don’t know when it happened, but it was the same righteousness. If you’re righteous, you have the same righteousness as Christ does. That’s what Paul says in Philippians 3:9, “not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” So, Joseph is righteous as Jesus is righteous, only in Joseph’s case it’s a gift of grace. Joseph has been justified by faith through grace.

But there is a caveat that John adds in his gospel. He says in John 19:36 that though Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, he was a secret one, for fear of the Jews. Joseph may have been justified, but he was still holding back in his discipleship. He was following from afar. He might even have been at the cross with those women, those acquaintances that stood afar off at the crucifixion. He feared the Jews, that would be the Sanhedrin. He was afraid of being ostracized. Like a lot of Christians, he wasn’t open about his faith at his work. He was afraid of what it might cost him. He didn’t want to be seen associating with Jesus openly, because it might cost him politically, or socially, or economically.

But there is something that happens to this man as he witnesses the crucifixion of Christ. When so many others abandoned Jesus in this hour, this man found himself drawn there by the sovereignty of God. And as he witnessed the death of Christ I think he was convicted by the Holy Spirit. As he saw Jesus die on the cross, it prompted him to ask himself if he was willing to die for his faith as well. Not necessarily to die on the cross, but to die to the fear of criticism, die to the fear of losing prestige, power and social standing, to die to the allure of the world.

I don’t know what it is, but there is something about a person that goes bravely to their death that sometimes serves as a catalyst for those that are holding back in their faith. If you read Fox’s Book of Martyrs there are several documented examples of people witnessing the execution of a Christian who came to the knowledge of saving faith in that moment, and then take their place alongside the victim to be burned at the stake as well. They were inspired by the commitment of the martyr.

Somehow, as Joseph witnessed the courage of Christ on the cross, the compassion of Christ for His enemies, and the conquest of Christ in His victory cry, “Tetelestai!” “It is finished!” He was moved to a realization of his need for a greater consecration of his faith in his own life.   Mark says that immediately upon the death of Christ, Joseph mustered up his courage and went to see Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. That was a greater act of courage than what we might imagine. Undoubtedly he met some of his colleagues there from the Sanhedrin who had just been asking Pilate to break the victims legs so that they would not hang there on the Passover. His courage to walk into Pilate’s praetorium meant an end to the secrecy of his discipleship, and probably meant an end to his position as a judge in the Sanhedrin as well. And not only that, but he had to identify himself as a friend of Jesus to the Roman governor, the very man who had sentenced Jesus to death.

So not only does he identify with Jesus life and teaching, but he identifies with His death. And I think this is the picture that Luke wants us to see. The way of sanctification is the way of death. Dying to the world. Dying to whatever it is that separates us from Christ. Col. 3:3 says, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Therefore, Paul says in vs. 5, “consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” Joseph realized that only by dying to the world could he gain the sanctification that comes from following in Christ’s footsteps and so he courageously stepped out in faith and asked for the body of Christ. And what we can take from his example is that sometimes the process of sanctification can take a while. That’s why we call it a process of sanctification. There may be times when there seems to be little evidence for a person’s salvation. But if God is in them, then there will come a time when God moves them to a greater consecration of their lives.

Then look at vs. 53 and we see sanctification symbolized. “And [Joseph] took it down [that is the body of Jesus] and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.” I want you to think about the physical act of Jesus dying for a moment. Picture Jesus hanging there on the cross. Around 3pm He cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit.” And he breathed His last. Jesus died. His last breath went out like a sigh and He was dead. His lifeless bloody body hung there by nails. Just try to imagine that for a moment. The Son of God, lifeless, dead, hanging there. A corpse on a cross.

What a tragic, horrible picture. It would be the saddest picture that ever existed except for one thing: Jesus wasn’t there anymore. Look back in the text at what He said, “Into your hands I commit My Spirit.” He released His Spirit from His body. What was hanging there was the flesh and blood that once clothed that Spirit, but Christ’s Spirit was alive and in Paradise. 1Peter 3:18-20 says, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.” What Peter is talking about is that immediately upon His death, just as Jesus told the thief on the cross, His Spirit was in Paradise.

Paradise was described by Jesus at an earlier time as Abraham’s bosom, the place where Lazarus went after dying to be comforted with his people, even as his master, the rich man was sent to Hades. And Jesus related how there was a great chasm between the two destinies. Some think that Paradise is the upper chamber and Hades the lower chamber, and that somehow in this spirit world they are able to communicate and observe, but they cannot cross over. Peter says though Jesus’ body was hanging upon that cross, and then laid in a tomb, yet in His Spirit He was alive and He went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison. Jude says specifically that these spirits were the disobedient angels that were bound in the lower dungeons of hell until the judgment day. Jesus went and proclaimed victory over sin and death to these fallen heavenly hosts. Col. 2:15 says, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

There is much that we could say of Jesus in the lower regions of the earth but I cannot take the time to discuss it all today. But I want you to consider the symbolism of His burial. And one thing that is touching on our discussion of sanctification is the picture of Jesus being dead in the flesh, and being made alive in the Spirit. That is the picture of sanctification. When we enter into the process of sanctification, we consider our bodies as dead, voluntarily crucifying our flesh and it’s passions, so that we might be made alive in the Spirit to walk in the Spirit.

When you are born again, the Holy Spirit is given to you in full measure. So there is no process of getting more of the Holy Spirit. We don’t need to seek what some call a second baptism. Because the very nature of salvation is that we are baptized with Christ into death. 1Pet. 3:21 “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you–not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Peter’s not saying water baptism saves you. He makes that clear. But it is a reference to the mortification of the flesh as we appeal to God for forgiveness of sins.

So the way to a sanctified life in the Spirit is not to get more of the Spirit, but to crucify more of the flesh. Scripture speaks of that crucifying of our flesh as either circumcision or baptism. In Col. 2:11-14 Paul uses both metaphorically; “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Sanctification then is the putting to death the deeds of the flesh so that we might live in the Spirit and do the deeds of the Spirit.

Note also vs. 54, “It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.” It is noteworthy that God planned it so that Jesus body was in the tomb on the Sabbath Day. This is a pivotal point in the gospel. It is the last day under the old covenant, and so you see everyone trying to make all these preparations for the Sabbath so that they don’t do any work on it. Technically the Sabbath started at sundown on Friday evening. And so they are all working to get Jesus off the cross and buried and then get home before sundown so they don’t break the Sabbath. But look at what Jesus is doing. His body, which represents the old man under the first covenant, is dead in the tomb, resting. His body is keeping the last Sabbath under the law. But in the Spirit Christ is alive and moving. He is about the Father’s business. He is the perfect picture of dying to the flesh and being alive in the Spirit.

It reminds me of John 5, when Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath because He was healing on the Sabbath, and Jesus answered them, ““My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” The principle of the Sabbath as a day of rest is this; the rest that is found in Christ is resting in the finished work of Christ for our justification, and resting in the power of Christ working in us for our sanctification, and resting in the hope of resurrection for our glorification. It’s not that we don’t keep the moral laws of God anymore. We never could. But now the law of God is written on our hearts and on our minds so that our desire is to please God, so we keep His commandments not because of the law but because of love. Jesus said, “if you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Heb 4:9-11 says, “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” Our Sabbath rest is found in diligent obedience to the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God convicts us and leads us through the Word of God. Vs. 12 continues to that effect, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Finally, one more point; sanctification multiplied. Besides the obvious benefit of sanctification to the one being sanctified, there is another benefit and that is to the people to whom you influence by your consecration. We already saw that multiplication effect on Joseph as he witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus which was the ultimate act of sanctification. But now Joseph as well multiplies that effect by influencing others through his sanctification. One person in particular is of special note, but we have to look elsewhere to see it. John 19:39-40 “Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.”

You remember Nicodemus in John chapter 3 who came to Jesus by night, secretly, so as not to be seen, to enquire of Jesus the way of salvation. And though John did not indicate in chapter 3 that Nicodemus was saved on that occasion, yet obviously he was later converted. John also said he was a ruler of the Jews. That would have most likely made him a member of the Sanhedrin as well. I cannot help but imagine that these two men were companions in their secret discipleship. And now that Joseph has bravely come forward to claim Jesus’ body, Nicodemus is also inspired to join him in preparing Jesus body.

And notice also the women that follow them to the tomb and watch their preparations of His body and where they laid Him. They go back home to prepare more spices for His embalming that they will do on Sunday morning after the Sabbath. I believe the devotion of Joseph and Nicodemus were an encouragement to these women as well as they see them take a bold stand for Christ.

And folks, I would just offer their example to you today as an encouragement as well. If our goal is to see the kingdom of God multiplied on the earth then we need to see some men and women come out of the shadows and make a public stand for Christ. The best way to be a testimony for the gospel is to live a sanctified life as an example to others. Let me warn you though it’s not going to come without a cost. These men put their lives, their careers and their finances on the line for the sake of the kingdom of God. They took their eyes off the reward of the world and were looking for the reward in the kingdom of God. The sacrifices of their careers, the sacrifice of their positions in society, the myrrh and spices that they bought, the linen wrappings and the tomb in a garden that no man had ever been laid all came with great price. But if it were possible to question these men today even in their rest in Paradise if the reward of a sanctified life were worth it, I’m sure that they would say it was worth it all.

In Hebrews 11 we see several OT saints lifted up as examples of sanctification for us to follow. Heb. 11:24-26 identifies one of the most famous, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

I pray that the death of Christ will have a similar impact on your life even as it was on the life of Joseph of Arimathea. Maybe you have been saved at some point of your life, but you have languished in your zeal for the Lord. Maybe you have been embarrassed to take a stand as a Christian. Maybe you have been too attached to the things of this world. I pray that today you will consider the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and the example of the saints that have gone before us and decide that starting today by the grace of God you are going to renounce the world and consider the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure of this world. To take up your cross and follow Jesus, no matter what the cost.

In closing, I would like to read to you chapter 12 of Hebrews which exhorts us to live a life of sanctification. Heb. 12:1-14 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

It’s amazing that in spite of Christmas being a celebration of the birth of Christ, essentially celebrating Jesus’ birthday, the enemy is doing everything he can to detract from the true meaning and diminish people’s recognition of what it is all about. I can’t imagine that our culture would tolerate the kind of animosity that is happening today towards Christmas if it were a celebration of any other historical or religious figure’s birthday.

But even so, Christmas is still a very popular holiday celebrated the world over. However, I’m afraid that even when we recognize Christmas for what it truly is, the birth of Jesus, we still often fall short of understanding the real reason for the season. It’s not too difficult to be sympathetic towards a little baby being born on a cold night in a manger because there is no room for them in the inn. It’s somewhat easy to be sentimental about young mother and father taking refuge in a stable and having a baby and lying him in a manger. It’s a beautiful story, a story that evokes compassion and sympathy and sentimentality. And if we leave it there, then that is all that it is. A sentimental story. A story that has a sad ending. A poor baby who grew into an innocent man who went around doing good, who died as a martyr at 33 years of age.

The fact is though that the story may begin in sympathy, but it ends in triumph. What seemed to be the untimely, sad end of Christ’s life as we look at chapter 23, is actually the triumph of the ages. It is the greatest victory of all time. . The real reason for Christmas, the reason that Jesus came to earth as a baby in a manger, was to go to the cross. Jesus came to earth to die on the cross, to defeat the enemy, to take away the sting of death, to purchase reconciliation for man with God by offering Himself as a sacrifice at Calvary.

There is no doubt that Jesus was an actual, historical figure who walked the earth 2000 years ago. Historians agree that this is an undeniable fact. And yet simply believing this fact will not save you. And to the same extent, there is no saving grace in having a sentimental feeling towards Jesus as a baby in a manger. There is no saving grace in having sympathy for an innocent man being put to death on a cross.

And today’s passage illustrates that fact very well. As we look at Jesus walking through Jerusalem to the hill outside the city called Calvary, the Place of the Skull, there is a crowd following Him. It is made up of Roman soldiers, the high priests and scribes, members of the Sanhedrin, and the mob that called for His crucifixion before Pilate. But as this crowd winds through the narrow city streets, it attracts a large crowd of what we might call sympathizers. People that may have been attracted to Jesus at some point during His ministry. Many of them may have been there when He came into town just a week before riding on a donkey, and offered up their voices to cry “Hosanna!” along with the rest of the multitude. And included in this crowd, Luke tells us in vs. 27, are some women who were mourning and lamenting for Him.

Now at first glance this could be viewed in a positive light. These women obviously had some sense of the injustice of this act perpetrated on an innocent man. They must have had a certain fondness for the person of Jesus. They were sympathetic towards His suffering. After all, I’m sure they had heard of the kind things He had done in healing the sick. They had some sort of sentimental feelings towards Him as a person. They had compassion for the fact that this kind, gentle man who had done such good things had been arrested and wrongfully accused, sentenced to die and was now beaten and bruised and bloodied, walking through the city on His way to the cross.

These women were sympathetic to Jesus’ condition. They were feeling sorry for Him. They had sentimental feelings about Him and so they mourned for Him. They were wailing as was the custom of that day to wail for the dead or dying. Their emotions were running high. Their tears were flowing. And I would think that many of us if we were there that day would have thought such sentimental expressions of sympathy were appropriate. I suspect that very similar emotional expressions are a part of many contemporary worship services even today and might be considered to be honoring to Christ.

But Jesus does something extraordinarily unexpected in response to their sympathy. He rebukes them. Even though He has been beaten repeatedly in His face, lashed 39 times with a barb tipped whip until He is literally at the point of death, hasn’t eaten or drank in many hours and suffered a sleepless night at the hands of His enemies, He turns around to these women that are mourning and lamenting for Him and rather than thanking them for their sympathy or acknowledging their sentiments, He uses what little strength He has left to rebuke them. Now that is an extraordinary thing and worthy of our consideration.

Let’s look at what He says in vs. 28, “But Jesus turning to them said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.’” Now how are we to understand this? Is Jesus just snapping at these poor women because He is under a lot of stress and their wailing is getting on His nerves? Or rather is Jesus is still teaching, still concerned about the needs of others, even in this moment of agony? I would have to say it was the latter. Jesus uses this opportunity to teach one final lesson before the cross. Even in the midst of all the anguish that He is going through at that moment, He is not thinking of Himself, but of them.

So we must ask ourselves, why does Jesus tell the women not to weep for Him? Well first of all, Jesus tells them not to weep for Him because He had come into the world to go to the cross. They did not understand what was happening. This wasn’t a tragedy that required their sympathy. He was fulfilling His purpose. When Jesus prayed the night before in the upper room He prayed as recorded in John 12:27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.” Jesus suffered the humility of coming to earth as a baby in a manger so that one day He would deliberately make that walk to Calvary to die on the cross. It was the purpose of His incarnation. Hebrews 2:9 says, “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” Jesus tells these women not to weep for Him because this is no unfortunate circumstance, but rather He is deliberately going to His death to die in our place so that we might live.

Secondly, Jesus says do not weep for Me because He knows what is actually happening. The women think that this is some sort of tragic coincidence and so they wail and mourn. But Jesus knows that what is happening is not some cosmic accident, but the divine plan of God. Not just the crazed actions of angry men, but the predetermined plan of God. Peter would later characterize this day as fulfilling the plan of God when He preached on the day of Pentecost, saying in Acts 2:23 “this [Jesus], delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”

Thirdly, Jesus tells them not to weep for Him because He knows that what He does will glorify the Father as nothing else can ever do. His sacrifice for our sins glorifies the Father, because it manifests God’s love for the world in the most exquisite way possible. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him shall have eternal life.” The love of God for sinners required Him to offer up His only Son on a cruel cross so that He might save us from death.

Jesus understood what love meant. Those women along the road that day did not understand love. They understood sentimentality. They understood emotionalism. They understood sympathy. But they did not understand love. However, God understood love and He demonstrated agape love to the fullest expression by offering up Jesus on the cross for us. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God does not demonstrate sentimental or superficial love for us, but sacrificial love, by offering His only Son to die in our place.   That is how we are to understand love. Not in terms of emotion, or in terms of sentiment, but in terms of sacrifice. 1John 4:19 “We love, (we understand love) because He first loved us.”

Fourthly, Jesus tells them not to weep for Him because He knows the consequences of the cross. For Him, the joy set before Him was more than worth the sacrifice. In John 12:31 Jesus said concerning His impending death, “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” The consequence of the cross is that sin is defeated, Satan is thrown down and the sting of death is taken away. He knows what the victory means. That if He is lifted up on the cross on Calvary’s hill, He will draw all men to Himself that they might be saved. The sacrifice is well worth the victory.

Col. 2:13-15 “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” That is a reference to the rulers, the powers of darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places spoken of in Ephesians 6. Jesus triumphed over them at the cross, shouting out in victory “It is finished!” Jesus knows the consequences of the cross, therefore He tells the women not to weep for Him. This is no accident, this is His destiny, the divine plan of God set before the foundation of the world so that men might be reconciled to God and nothing will stop Him from completing His mission.

So Jesus says to the women who were lamenting Him, “Don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children.” Why such a rebuke? Why does Jesus take what precious little energy He has left to offer this stirring rebuke to these well meaning women? Well, the answer is simple. He says weep for yourselves because you don’t really know who I am. Weep for yourselves because of your ignorance concerning Me. And weep because of your ignorance for your own condition. Weep for your sins, for your own guilty condition before God.

James 4:8-10 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Jesus tells these women to weep for themselves and for their children because that is the way of repentance, and the way of repentance is the path to righteousness before God. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Secondly, weep for yourselves and your children because you don’t understand the judgment of God is coming upon you. Jesus had warned the citizens of Jerusalem in Luke 13:34-35 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'”

They did not understand that they were putting to death the very Son of God. They did not understand that God would pour out His wrath upon them for their rejection of His Son, just as Jesus had prophesied, that the kingdom would be taken away from them and given to others who would make good use of it. And in AD 70, we know that Rome entered Jerusalem and massacred hundreds of thousands in one day and burned the city and the temple. Children were dashed to the ground as their mothers watched in horror as the day of judgment came upon Israel for it’s rejection of the Messiah.

Jesus says weep for yourselves and for your children, for the days are coming as prophesied when such a horror will fall upon Jerusalem that they will say “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed. Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, ‘FALL ON US,’ AND TO THE HILLS, ‘COVER US.’ It would be better to be barren in those coming days of judgment than to see the destruction of your children. And the terror of those days would be such that men and women would call out for the mountains to fall on them and destroy them, rather than fall into the hands of the soldiers.

Jesus says weep for yourselves and your children, because if they do these things when the tree is green, what will they do in the dry. That means that if they do this to the innocent, meaning Himself, then what will they do to the impenitent and rebellious? What will happen to you who reject the Savior of the world? If they crucify the Holy Son of God, then what punishment is deserved by those that rejected Him? Listen, if you die in your sins, after so magnificent a sacrifice was offered for you, then you deserve to suffer the terrors of hell for eternity. Jesus suffered and died such a horrible death so that He might taste death for us. But if we reject Him and His offer of salvation, then the cross is of no use to us. It merely condemns us to a greater condemnation, because we trampled underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ. We considered it worthless.

So weep for yourselves because of the ignorance of the world who doesn’t understand that they are lost and will perish for eternity without Christ. Weep for yourselves and for your children because they did not understand their need for the cross. Listen, the sentimentality and sympathy of men can be a detriment to your discipleship if you believe that suffering and sacrifice are not part of God’s plan for you. Not understanding how God uses suffering to conform us to the image of Jesus, will impede your discipleship and cause you to question the purpose of God.

Probably the greatest skateboarder of the 1970’s, which was really when skateboarding started to become popular, was a guy named Jay Adams. I remember seeing him in the skateboarding magazines when I was a teenager. He rose to world wide fame at a young age as part of the Zephyr skateboard team which was from Dogtown, an area near Venice, Ca. Jay was a natural talent and a real innovator of what has became modern skateboarding. But like a lot of people from that era, Jay became involved in drugs and partying from a young age. As he got older, that lifestyle led him into crime and street gang violence and he ended up spending a lot of time in prison. But the amazing thing was about 10 or 12 years ago Jay Adams became saved. I remember hearing about it when my son and I were in Hawaii at the time. Jay showed up at a Bible study and some of our friends were there and they heard his testimony.

But not long after that I heard that Jay was arrested and put in prison again, presumably from an old outstanding warrant. I must say even though I really wanted to believe Jay was truly saved, I wondered about his salvation. From time to time though I ran across something in a magazine or on the internet that he said or did which gave me hope. Eventually he got out of prison, and he seemed to be doing ok. He was married, had a family and he experienced a resurgence in his career. Hollywood even made a movie about Dogtown and he was featured prominently in the story. But then in August of this year, just as it seemed Jay’s life was finally getting together and things were working out, he died of a heart attack while surfing in Mexico on vacation with his wife. He was 53 years old. It seemed like such a tragedy.

Then just the other day I happened to come across a video of Jay’s memorial service. It was held at a large church in Los Angeles. Hundreds of people were in attendance which included a large number of older skaters who had been his friends. These guys were some of the most hard core looking guys you could imagine. All tattooed up and a lot of them with pretty gnarly backgrounds. And there were two pastors that preached at that service as well as a testimony given by another professional skater named Christian Hosoi, who was also a born again Christian. It was really amazing to hear their stories about the Jay Adams that they knew that had been transformed by the power of Christ. One pastor read several letters written by Jay while in prison in which he talked at length about how God was changing him daily as he studied his Bible. And as I heard these three men’s testimonies, I was happy to be confirmed in my hope that Jay Adams was truly a man of God. He wasn’t perfect, and he did stumble on more than one occasion, but he had been saved and transformed by the power of the gospel.

But there was still the nagging question of why would God take this man, just when his life seemed to be getting on track, especially considering how his life could have been effective at reaching a lot of people. Why did God take him now? And the answer came in a couple of verses from one of the messages; Isaiah 53:10-11 “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.” What that says in a nutshell was this; by the death of One, many were made righteous. And though that verse is talking about Jesus, it also applies to Jay’s life. By his death, many were made righteous. At the conclusion of that service, the preacher gave a simple invitation and a dozen old friends of Jay’s came up to the altar to receive Christ. God often uses suffering and trials which seem incomprehensible to us, for the good of the kingdom of God. Our part is to trust Him that He knows what is best and yield ourselves to be used by Him.

Now there was one other person on the road to Calvary that morning that did see the value of the cross. And I believe that person is given here as an illustration of what it means to understand the significance of the cross. That person was Simon of Cyrene. Luke doesn’t tell us a lot about this man, but we can find mention of Him in other scriptures which helps us to understand who he was. He was probably a Jew, living in what is now known as Libya, in Northern Africa. He was undoubtedly in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover. So he would have been a God fearing Jew that had come from the country into Jerusalem to worship God.

And though we are not told a lot about this man at this point, we do know that he was pressed into service by the Roman soldiers to carry the cross of Christ. This happened just before Jesus spoke to the women along the road. Perhaps Jesus was so weakened by the flogging and the beatings that he had endured, along with a sleepless night and the loss of blood and so forth, that they wanted to be sure that Jesus made it to the cross without dying along the way. Or maybe they wanted to get there quicker and so they picked out a strong looking passerby to carry the cross of Jesus so they could get along with their business.

But the scripture is careful to tell us that after taking up the cross Simon followed behind Jesus. And here we have a picture of what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. This guy is following his own plan and purpose, and then one day he is suddenly face to face with Jesus Christ, and he takes up his cross and follows Him to Calvary. Jesus made the cost of discipleship clear earlier in Luke 9:23, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” He said in Luke 14:27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” And again in Matt. 10:38, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

Listen, Jesus never offered a cross-less salvation. He never offered a blood-less Christianity. Modern Christianity today wants to present a blood-less, cross-less Christianity where all the sacrifice was done by Christ so that we can be forgiven and then get on with our life. Come as you are and stay as you are. Get your get out of hell card and carry on. But Jesus never teaches that. He teaches that just as He went to the cross, so we are to take up our cross and follow Him. Faith in Christ’s death on the cross produces our justification, which in turn produces our sanctification which requires crucifying our flesh and it’s desires and obeying the Spirit of God. Gal. 5:24 “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Gal. 2:20 tells us what that looks like; “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” In other words, I no longer live for myself, no longer live like my flesh, my passions tell me to live, but I live now as the Spirit tells me to live. I crucify the passions of my flesh and let Christ live through my body. That is the picture that we see in Simon the Cyrene leaving the path that he was following, and picking up the cross and following Jesus.

Now I’m sure someone will say, “well Roy, that’s a nice illustration, but how do we know that Simon the Cyrene became a believer? He’s just some poor guy who carried the cross of Christ, but we don’t really know what became of him.” Well, actually there are a couple of indications that he was a believer, and furthermore his family came to believe in Christ. When Mark writes his account of this event, he includes the information in Mark 15:21 that Simon was the father of Rufus and Alexander. The point being that the church Mark was writing to would have known these two brothers as they were a part of their congregation. Furthermore, Paul mentions Rufus in Romans 16 and his mother who also was a Christian and esteemed by the apostle. So we can be sure that this experience on the road to Calvary was a life changing experience for Simon as he followed Jesus, carrying His cross.

Unlike the superficial women that lamented Jesus on that walk, Simon undoubtedly came to say, as the centurion did when witnessing Christ at the cross, “truly this was the Son of God.” He came to understand the purpose of Christ’s crucifixion as he shouldered the cross of Christ and followed after Him. And as such he is a great illustration for us of someone who has entered into the fellowship of His sufferings.

Paul, talking about the fellowship we have in the sufferings of Christ describes what it means to take up your cross and follow Jesus in Phil. 3:8-11, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

I will close today by asking you a question. What effect has the cross of Christ had on you? Does it just evoke a feeling of sympathy? Does the person of Christ, or the birth of Christ produce only sentimental feelings? Listen, Jesus Christ doesn’t ask for, nor does He desire our sympathy. The cross of Christ is designed to produce in us repentance. Weep for yourselves and for your children. Let His example of love for us become our expression of love for Him. Not a superficial sentimentality, but a sacrificial love for Christ which considers everything that I once considered gain as loss, in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus.

What use is it to gain the whole world and lose your own soul? What shall a man give in exchange for His soul? The answer is everything. I surrender all. I completely surrender my heart to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He is worth it all. Whatever loss I have to surrender in this life is worth it for the sake of Christ. Can you say that this morning? Have you wept over your sinfulness? Have you trusted in Christ as your Savior? Have you experienced forgiveness for your sins? I pray that today is the day of your salvation and that no one here would reject the offer of salvation purchased by the blood of the Son of God.