The Word Made Plain

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Word Made Playing with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, pastor Tony is teaching in the book of John. Please open your Bible to John chapter 19 verses 38 through 42.

Tony Clark: John chapter 19. We're going to be looking at verses 38 to 42. Father, thank you so much for this time you've given us to be in your word. We pray, God, that your Holy Spirit would teach us this morning. Thank you for just bringing us here, Lord. Thank you for a time of worship. Thank you for time in your word. So speak into our hearts today in Jesus name. Amen. Oh, this is a great message. I'm so glad that our young people are in here too. This is a great message. John 19 looking at verses 38 to 42.

The title of this message is undercover Christian. Oh, this is good stuff. We going to talk about some good stuff today. Undercover Christian. Now, this title is considered an oxymoron. Which by definition means that it is a figure of speech that is an apparent contradictory in terms. Uh for example, jumbo shrimp. Living dead. And the least favorite our title undercover Christian. This title falls into this category because Christians are never told to be undercover. But just the opposite. Jesus said in Matthew 28 in verse 19, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Mark 16 and verse 15 says, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. In Matthew 24 in verse 14 says, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations and then the end will come. And as we can see, Jesus never intended for us to be undercover or a secret agent Christians. And we can't preach the gospel to the whole world and be undercover at the same time. And this is why undercover Christian is an oxymoron. So what would keep us from obeying the Lord and preaching the gospel to the whole world?

Oh, I believe that these verses give us some answers as to why we don't do it. Look what it says there in verse 38. It says, after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. Now, whether you believe it or not, there's a mouthful in just this one verse alone. This verse contains the answers we're looking for concerning while there there are so many undercover Christians today.

The phrase after this that starts off this verse refers to the events described for us in verses 31 to 37. In these verses, Jesus died on the cross in verse 31. And because it was unlawful for the bodies of the individuals to remain on the cross throughout the Sabbath day, the religious leaders asked that the legs of the victims might be broken in order to speed up their death. The soldiers came in verse 32 and broke the legs of the first two men crucified. Uh but when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead.

They did not break his legs. Then verse 34 says that one of the soldiers took a his spear and pierced the side of Jesus, and immediately it says that blood and water came out, showing that Jesus died of a ruptured or broken heart. So after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly. Now, who is this man? Well, Joseph appears in all four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We know from Matthew 27 verse 57 that he was rich. From Mark 15 verse 43 we know that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the Jewish Supreme Court.

But he didn't agree with the decision to condemn Jesus according to Luke 23 and verse 51. We know that he was a good and righteous man according to Luke 23 verse 50. And who was waiting for the kingdom of God according to Mark 15 and verse 43. We're told that he was from the city of Arimathea. Now, the exact location of this city is unknown, but some scholars identify it with the city of uh Arimathea Zophin, which was the birthplace of the prophet Samuel according to 1 Samuel 1 1. So John the author tells us uh in this verse that he was also a disciple of Jesus.

Now, by the way of definition, a disciple is a personal follower of Jesus, a follower or student of a teacher or leader. So with all this in mind, I believe that Joseph of Arimathea is a perfect example of the average Christian in America. Joseph was rich. And compared to the rest of the world, we as Americans are rich. He was a good and righteous man. And as most Christians in America consider themselves as a good good person or righteous because they come to church when they need to or when it's convenient for them. Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, and if you were to ask most American Christians, they too would say that they are a follower of Jesus.

However, this verse goes on to say that he was a disciple of Jesus, but don't miss this, but secretly. That Greek word for secretly is krupto. And it means to conceal or to hide, to to be kept secret. So what would make Joseph keep his belief in Jesus a secret? Well, this verse goes on to say for fear of the Jews. Well, that Greek word for fear is phobos. And it is and it means to alarm or to fright. It is where we get our English word phobia, uh which is an extreme or irrational fear or an aversion to something.

And so what made Joseph this afraid? This verse says, for fear of the Jews. Remember how we talked about throughout the gospel of John that the term the Jews refers to the religious leaders and not to the entire Jewish race. See John 9 in verse 22 says the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that Jesus was the Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. See for us to be put out of the synagogue or to be put out of the church, it doesn't mean anything to us. You get put out of the church, you just go down the street to the next church.

It doesn't mean anything. But for the Jewish person to be put out of the synagogue was huge. It meant three things. Number one, you were cut off from the blessings of God. So to be put out of the synagogue had spiritual consequences. Number two, no one will come to your place of business any longer. So it had financial consequences. And number three, your family considered you to be dead. So it had relational consequences. So this caused a lot of believers in Jesus at this time to go undercover, to believe in Jesus secretly. And I believe the same is true in our lives as well.

A lot of followers of Jesus are undercover for these same reasons. To believe in Jesus, it may have financial consequences. The job says that you cannot talk about religion and especially Jesus. And if you do, you will be terminated. So believers today go undercover. It may have relational consequences because as soon as you publicly confess that you follow Jesus, that partner may leave you or your family members may not talk to you any longer. Good friends no longer want a relationship with you. So when they come around to keep this from happening, you go undercover.

Going undercover may have spiritual consequences because of your secret disciple status, you feel guilty. Like you are cut off from the blessings of God and you feel miserable. So for fear of these things, we're no different than Joseph of Arimathea. It will seem like John the author didn't have a high view of secret agent or undercover Christians because in John chapter 12 in verses 42 and 43 he says, nevertheless, even among the rulers, many believed in him, referring to Jesus. But because of the Pharisees, who were the conservative religious leaders, they did not confess him lest they should be put out of the synagogue.

And here it is, verse 43, here it is. For they love the praises of men more than the praises of God. Oh, this I believe this describes many of you here today. Are you an undercover Christian because you love the praises of men more than the praises of God? Are you afraid if people found out that you are a follower of Jesus Christ, they would not sing your praises any longer? You are afraid that they may start you know persecuting you. And this is where many of the religious leaders who believed in Jesus, they found themselves.

See these religious leaders were highly respected by the people. They were looked upon to point the people to God. And when they were seen out in public, uh they would acknowledge these teachers that by calling them either Father or Rabbi. And so to confess being a follower of Jesus had huge implications. It meant that they would lose all of their prestige, all of their power, all of their prominence in the community. And this was too much for them to bear, too much for them to lose. So they loved the praises of men more than the praises of God and and and became a disciple of Jesus but secretly.

Verse 38 goes on to say that Joseph finally gathered some courage and went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. See this was huge because he was risking everything by doing this because he was identifying himself with someone who was considered an enemy of Rome. And by doing so, he can get into trouble or get the same faith that Jesus got. So this was huge, but this time Joseph didn't care. Asking for the body of Jesus was a big deal because they would normally leave the bodies on the cross so the birds and the scavengers could pick and eat from the corpse.

And Joseph cannot stand to see his Lord's body treated in such a demeaning way. And they will also take the dead bodies and dump them in a dump with other dead bodies. And Joseph would not allow the body of Jesus to be mistreated in such a way. So he got courageous and asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. I wonder if we could muster up the courage to make a stand for Jesus when we see him being picked on and picked at by the scavengers of this world. Or will we remain undercover for fear of losing our status in this world?

I I just wonder how can we stand there and let our precious Lord, the one who paid and shed his precious blood for our sin on Calvary's cross, and we can stand around and allow the scavengers of this world to pick at them and pick on them and say these things and we sit in silence for fear that we might start getting persecuted if we identify. Oh, they may call us into the office. If we identify with with Jesus Christ and he's being picked at and picked on and mocked right in our presence and we say nothing.

So when Joseph asked for this body, what did Pilate say? Verse 38 says that he gave him permission. Pilate gave Jesus permission to take the body. And perhaps it was at a cost. See it wasn't uncommon for the relatives of a person uh of the person crucified to ask for the body of their dead relative to give it a proper burial. And the same may be true for us. When we make a stand for Jesus, it may be at a cost. We may lose our job or close friends or get passed over for promotion. There's always a cost to stand up for Jesus, and this is why many people keep their mouths closed because of the cost.

It it may it may cause them to to to perhaps to pay. So they keep their mouths closed while our precious Lord and Christianity and the things we hold precious are mocked and ridiculed and made fun of. The very Bible that teaches us that enables us to grow in our walk with the Lord has been talked about and mocked and ridiculed and we keep quiet because we don't want to identify ourselves with such things and then have them not sing our praises any longer. Oh, woe be it unto us to stand there while the things of God, especially this precious book and our precious Lord is talked about by the scavengers of this world picked that and picked on and we say nothing.

Oh, woe be it unto us. And Joseph, you have to understand he wasn't alone with this. Look at verses 39 and 40. Says and Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and alloys about 100 lbs. Then they took the body of Jesus and bound it in strips of linen with the spices as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now, in these verses we see that Joseph wasn't alone. Nicodemus was with him. And so too you are not alone either. God will always provide a Nicodemus to be with us.

See this is key because so often we think we're the only Christian around. We're the only ones making a stand for the Lord. There's always a Nicodemus that's around. There's always one. And John the author identifies him as the one who came to Jesus by night referring to the incident that took place in John 3 in verses 1 and 2. And being an undercover Christian could be the reason why he came to Jesus by night, or it could have been the time he was free to talk to Jesus because he was busy during the day being a teacher of the nation of Israel.

And we also know from John chapter 7 in verses 50 to 52 that he rebuked the Sanhedrin for trying to condemn Jesus uh before they gave him a chance to answer for his actions, which was illegal according to the Jewish law. And by him bringing a mixture of of myrrh and alloys and gives uh uh the how much it was, about 100 lbs. Shows that he was rich just like Joseph. According to verse 40 uh they would take these spices and tuck them in between the linens linen strips that were wrapped around the body of Jesus to counteract the smell of the decomposing flesh.

And so the as they wrapped these bodies, they would just tuck these spices alloy and and all these spices and myrrh in between there to counteract as that decomposing body was rotting away. So I believe that we do this spiritually. You say, what do you mean? We are rotting and decomposing because of the sin we're involved in or allowed back into our lives. And we don't want anyone else to know it. So we try to put on the sweet perfume of worship hoping that no one can smell the sin decomposing our bodies. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verses 6 and 7 it says, your glorying is not good.

Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore, purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump. And so instead of trying to use the perfume of worship and church attendance to cover up how the sin you're involved in is decomposing your life, Paul tells us to purge out or confess your sin and forsake it so that you can become a new lump. And so times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Oh, I believe that there are some people here today that their sin that you've allowed back into your lives.

There's things that you're involved in is rotting away at your life, but you're trying to use worship and you're trying to use church attendance as the perfume hoping that we don't smell that your life is decomposing and that your life is rotting away because of sin. Oh, the Lord sees that. And because he loves us, he wants us to purge out or confess that particular sin and that which we're involved in. So just like it says in the book of Acts, it told that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. You can experience that time of refreshing doing worship because of the sin you're involved in or have allowed back into your life.

And the Lord is saying, purge out that stuff so you may become a new lump. Because see even though you're trying to use the perfume of worship and church attendance, the smell of decomposing flesh is still being smelled. We still smell it. The Lord definitely smells it. And he's saying, purge out. Purge out. You know who it is. He said, purge it out so you may become a new lump. Look what it says there in verses 41 and 42. It says, now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.

So there they laid Jesus because of the Jews' preparation day for the tomb was nearby. Now, in these verses we see how John gives us the location of the place this tomb was. Uh Matthew 27 in verse 60 tells us that the tomb belonged to Joseph. In other words, he gave Jesus his own personal tomb. He put Jesus above his own knees. Oh, what a lesson we can learn from Joseph. So often our knees, our pleasures, our concerns, our desires will always come before Jesus or church. It was not true for Joseph. According to verse 42, Joseph and Nicodemus were working diligently to get this done because the Sabbath was fast approaching at sunset.

So what happened next? Well, you got waiting to next time. You got waiting to we get into chapter 20. Gospel next week and you'll see what happened after this. Let me conclude with this. Today we saw the negative effects of being an undercover Christian. We saw how fear can cause us to go undercover and become a secret agent Christian. So are we going to allow fear or the praises of man to cause us to go undercover? Or are we going to pray and ask God to empower us to speak and be a bold witness for him?

The Bible says the righteous are as bold as a lion. Where are the bold Christians today? I'm not talking about being weird. You know some Christians they they're weird. You know they they think they're being bold, but they just come off like weird, you know and just and people like, dude, back off. Now, we're not talking about being weird. Just being bold, not weird. Finally, if you have been an undercover Christian, you need to ask God to forgive you for whatever reason you have been using for causing you to go undercover. Maybe it is fear.

Fear of being fired or passed over for promotion or fear of being alone. And no matter what it is, we need to ask the Lord to forgive us for being an undercover Christian and disobeying his word to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations and go and preach the gospel to every creature. God told us and then you got your super spiritual ones. Well, I'm just waiting on being led to go. Jesus told us to go 2,000 years ago. Would you being led? Would you being being led? He told us to go 2,000 years ago.

I just read you two verses that was written 2,000 years ago. They said, go. What you mean you waiting to be led? Kidding me? You want a personal invitation? Well, turn to Matthew 28 you and Mark 16, that's your invitation to go. We use all kind of reasons for us not to obey what God has said. And the Lord wants to use us. The Lord wants to use the way it goes is you come here, you get equipped. You go out. You plant the seed. They come here. I water the seed. But God gets the increase and gets the glory.

That's how it's supposed to go. But what many of you do, you try to do all you can to cork some to come here and take, okay, get them, pastor Tony, get them. What? No, you supposed to plant the seed so when I come, I'm watering it. Then God gets the glory and gets the increase. That's how it's supposed to go. May God use us to be the people he's caused us to be in this dark world that we live in. May we be the light that the people need to see to see Jesus Christ.

Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this time you've given us. Thank you for your grace and mercy and love in Jesus name. Amen.

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