Address—G.H. Hayhoe
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
The 19th chapter of the Gospel of John.
Beginning at the 38th.
And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate.
That he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore and took the body of Jesus.
And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an 100 LB weight. And they took the body of Jesus, and wounded in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre. Forin was never man yet laid.
There lay they Jesus. Therefore, because of the Jews preparation day for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre.
And we know not where they have laid him.
Just pass on to the 11TH verse. But Mary stood without it, the sepulchre weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth 2 angels in white sitting, and the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, Why weepest thou?
She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
And Jesus said unto her, Woman, Why weepest thou whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Surest thou have borne him hence?
Now tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni. Which is to say, Master Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God and your God.
Mary Magdalene came.
And told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
Then the same day, at evening being the first day of the week, where the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord on the 24th verse.
But Thomas, one of the 12, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hand the hands, the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
And after 8 days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said.
Peace be unto you.
From my thought, brethren, in reading these few verses.
Is to show how the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus was the means of blessing and of drawing out the hearts of these different ones. And I believe it's so important for us too to be occupied with the Lord Jesus in all that he has done for us. And I believe this is the secret of growth and progress in the soul.
We find in these different ones brought before us Joseph of Arimathea.
Nicodemus, those women that prepared the spices and the ointments.
00:05:01
Peter and John, the other disciples, Mary Magdalene, we can see that in each one of these. It wasn't a rebuke to them as I drew out their hearts or that caused them to grow in their souls. It was learning more about the Lord Jesus. It was occupation with him. And I believe that's so important for us brethren, for as our brother remarked in.
His little talk to the young people. What was it that? What was it that caused a Theophilus, as far as we could see, to make progress? Why it was occupation with the Lord. And what is it that will cause us to grow in our souls? We may be all at different stages in our Christian progress. There was the condition of Nicodemus.
And of Joseph of Arimathea. And then there was the condition.
Peter and John, there was the condition of Thomas. They were all different and were all different. We have made different, different measures of progress. We're at a different place in the family of God. But all the Spirit of God this afternoon would occupy us with the Lord Jesus. And so here we read of Joseph of Arimathea. Up to this time he had been a secret disciple.
There had apparently been no real courage in his life to take a stand for the Lord, to identify himself with the Lord. Is there someone here like that? Perhaps there's some dear young Christian, or some older 1 And in your heart you love the Lord Jesus. You're a secret disciple of his, you belong to him, but you've never really.
Identified yourself with him openly.
You've never taken a stand. Why might stand here and give you an exhortation that you ought to do this? But I believe it wasn't because someone told Joseph of Arimathea that he ought to come out and make a public stand. But all he saw that cross, he heard that cry, It is finished. He saw what the Lord Jesus had suffered at the hands of man.
And this caused.
Him to truly learn what separation was from the world. And Joseph of Arimathea, that secret disciple, comes forward and openly, in the presence of all those who had rejected and cried away with the Savior, he comes and reverently and lovingly takes that body down from the cross.
And buries it. What was it that produced the change in the heart?
Of Joseph Baromethea Why? It was occupation with the Lord Jesus. He was occupied with him and his death, and that caused a mighty change in his life. True, he was a believer before, but there was a lack of open confession. There was a lack of being truly identified with the Lord. There was a lack of separation.
And.
This was what caused the change. And all this afternoon I would like to point your heart and mind to that precious Savior. Have we heard that cry? It is finished. Have we seen the attitude of this world toward the One we love the most? Oh, doesn't it? Doesn't it make us want to be separated unto Him?
Our brother read to us in Galatians where it says, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. And Nicodemus, He too had been a secret disciple. He'd first come to Jesus by night. He had in a kind of a way.
Taken a measurable stand in the council in favor of the Lord.
Garden. But he'd never really come out for the Lord. But here we find this same mighty change takes place with him, and he brings this mixture of myrrh and owls about an 100 LB weight. And here he identifies himself with the Lord. He was no longer a secret disciple, but he was one who comes openly.
And identifies himself with that precious savior in death.
What was it that brought the change? I say why it was that he too had his heart's affections drawn out through the death of the Lord Jesus, through that precious Savior who there cried. It is finished.
00:10:13
And then there were others too. Here it says here.
And.
It says.
There in the 42nd verse there laid they Jesus. Therefore, because of the Jews, preparation day for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
And then we have Mary Magdalene. It tells us that she came out early in the morning.
Unto the sepulchre, while it was yet dark.
What was it that caused her to get up so early this morning? Why was it that she couldn't sleep that night as an ordinarily which she perhaps would?
All her Lord, the one she loved the most, had been rejected and crucified. He had been put to death. And now we find her heart stirred and she comes out early in the morning. She didn't know very much.
She knew more, perhaps, than Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus.
Here she comes now early in the morning. I say it wasn't a great deal of knowledge, but it was attachment of heart to Christ. Is there attachment of heart with you and I to Christ?
Is this true in our lives? Oh, I feel that we don't lack knowledge. I think most of us in this room have quite a knowledge of the things of God.
Probably much more than Mary Magdalene had. But do we have attachment of heart to Christ?
That was what drew her. And so she comes out with her little bit of knowledge, but with great attachment apart, and she comes to the sepulchre and it's empty. It's empty till she runs.
And tells Peter and John why the Lord's sepulchre is empty. What was it that caused her to have all this special energy to get up early to run and tell Peter and John all the ones she loved the most had been taken away, she knew not where.
Well, then, Peter and John, their hearts are stirred too. It says as yet they knew not the Scripture that he must rise from the dead. But they had been sort of, shall I say, delinquent. They had apparently not.
Stirred themselves to come out to that sepulchre like Mary had. But when they heard that the Lord Jesus sepulchre was empty, then they come forth and they run to the sepulchre. They want to see what has happened all here again we see the drawing power of that love that drew them to that place where the Lord Jesus had been buried.
And it tells us how.
So it says in the sixth verse. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Yes, they came now and they saw, but still there wasn't with them.
The full result that there should have been.
And we may hear these things, we may have our hearts in a measure moved, we may have a desire increased in our souls to follow the Lord. But the Lord was going to lead them on farther still. He was going to lead them to the point where they would desire to be together with His own, and where He could stand in their midst and make Himself known to them. But at least we can say there was a measure of progress here and isn't.
Lovely to see that growth, that measure of progress. President, we ought to look for this in our brethren. I've often thought of what it says about Samson. It says the Spirit of God began to move him and what we love to see.
As parents, when the Spirit of God begins to move our children, don't we love to see when the Spirit of God begins to work in the hearts of His people? Perhaps we expect too much all at once. Here we see energy. And then it seemed to die down and they went back to their homes. But the Lord wasn't through with them. He was to lead them on further still. And we may see little surges of energy. And then it seems to.
00:15:20
Die down again.
Seems to lose its freshness. But here we find that the Lord dealing with these ones is leading them on. And he's seeking to lead us on. Brethren, as we often sing the little hymn, Lead on. Almighty Lord, lead on to victory. What is He leading us on to?
Fuller knowledge of Himself, till we all come in the unity of the faith, unto the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and the heart of the Lord. Jesus will not be satisfied until every one of His own is supremely blessed.
When is our brother read to us? He'll be able to joy over us with singing.
And when our hearts will respond as they should to His love.
While there was deeper devotion with Mary Magdalene, and when the others went away, Mary Magdalene stayed there. It says about the disciples. As yet they knew not the Scriptures that he should rise from the dead. Often our lack of progress is an ignorance of the Scripture, and so how important it is that we read the Word of God day by day.
How important it is?
That we watch, that we do not neglect.
The reading of the word Let each one of us be more diligent in this.
So they hadn't known that he would rise.
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre, weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre. Well, she didn't know that the Lord was going to rise, neither did the disciples. But Mary had deep devotion of heart, and that was rewarded. And if there is with us a desire to learn more of the Lord, He will lead us on. He will teach us more of Himself.
If there's a heart here this afternoon that is saying, Oh, I want to follow the Lord, but I'm not sure of my path. I'm not sure what He would have me do. Why? If there is that desire in the heart, He will lead you. He will. It says If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.
Well, while she was weeping.
These angels in the sepulchre.
They said woman, why we bestow.
She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
Oh, she didn't know a great deal, but she wanted the company of the Lord Jesus, and he wanted her company. Do you and I want the company of the Lord Jesus? He wants our company. He wants that He's going to have our company forever in the glory, and He wants it now.
Well, it tells us then.
The 24 and the 14th verse. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Oh, I think this is so sweet here. Sometimes we may feel discouraged. We may feel that our desires after Him are unnoticed and frustrated and disappointed.
The Lord is standing dear. The Lord is standing near.
We may not recognize him, we may not know that even in that which brings tears to our eyes, he's standing, watching. And so he called her.
And he said, Woman, why weepest thou?
And she supposed the Lord to be the gardener? I'd just like to pass down a little thought about this. She supposed the Lord to be the gardener. I think sometimes we can suppose the Lord to be the gardener too.
That is, we can sort of have this thought in our minds that because he saved us, he's going to make this world such a pleasant place, just like a great garden for us.
But in the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, but there was also a sepulchre.
00:20:06
And this world, with all its beauty and with all its attraction, is a place with a sepulchre. And if we think the Lord is going to be the gardener and just make everything smooth and nice for us in this life, we may, we may have to come to realize that this is not so. He wasn't the gardener, but he had something better for her. He had something better.
The gardener could have made the place look all so beautiful and nice around there, but the one that she wanted was absent. Supposing it was made beautiful without a satisfied her heart? No, indeed not. And if the Lord should straighten out all the problems of our life and remove all the difficulties that perplex us, would that satisfy our hearts? No, brethren, it wouldn't. It wouldn't. It's himself alone.
That can satisfy our hearts.
And he turned. He wasn't the gardener, he said. Mary, Mary.
Oh, she turned, and she recognized at once who he was. Yes, it was the Lord Jesus. He wasn't the gardener. And what does he do? Always, Says Mary. He's a better place up there.
There's a relationship for you up there. This world has been spoiled for you now I know, and I haven't come to restore it and to make everything beautiful for you down here.
But he said, I ascend unto my Father, and your father, and to my God, and your God.
How her devotedness was rewarded, How her sorrowing heart was comforted. Why? Was it because she wanted the company of the Lord Jesus? That's why. And if your heart and mind is longing after a better knowledge of the Lord Jesus, He will surely make himself known to us, brethren. He will surely lead us on. But He may not correct.
All the troubles and burdens that are on our hearts.
He did not remove all the troubles of earth for Mary, and He doesn't remove all the troubles of earth for us, but He does point our hearts heavenward.
I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. It was a happy thing for Mary to find out that he wasn't the gardener, but he was the one who had said, I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself. And so here.
When he says unto my Father, my God.
I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. She was to enjoy a new relationship, and she was to know God is her God. Oh, how precious this was. So she was led on too, in occupation with the Lord. Her soul was led on. Then what did she do?
Why? She went to the disciples. She haunted them up.
And what was the impact, what was the result of this progress that had taken place in her soul? The result was an outflow of blessing to others.
The disciples had gone away to their own home. The rest of them hadn't been enough concern to be there at the sepulchre at all. But Mary goes, and she hunts them up.
And she says I've got a little message for you.
She didn't go out preaching, that wouldn't be the sister's place, but she did go with a little personal message to them. And she said, the Lord's risen, and here's what he said to them. I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. What was the result of a heart full of Christ?
Not much knowledge, but much more than she had when she first came to the sepulchre. But what was the result of a heart full of Christ?
Why that evening?
Ten of the recycles were together.
It says here, then the same day, at evening being the first day of the deceased, the week when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst.
Yes, her word, I believe, were used to encourage these disciples.
And ten of them came together where they disappointed.
00:25:01
Oh no, they came together for fear of the Jews with sad hearts, but they came together. They came together. Sometimes we come together with heavy hearts too. Sometimes the meetings may not be all that we would like them to be. There may be trials even in the meetings where the Lord is in the midst.
But isn't this lovely? The Lord Jesus came, and he stood in the midst and said.
Peace be unto you. Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shone unto them his hands and his side.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord? And I say again, for this is the point that I particularly want to press home, Was it because they were told they ought to be at the meeting? No, it's because there had been a little testimony for Christ that made them want to be there.
And when they were there.
Then the Lord made Himself known to them, and they learned a little more of Himself by being there. Yes, it was Himself that drew out their hearts, and there was progress. They knew not the Scripture that He would rise from the dead, but now they knew He was risen, and more they knew that He had said, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God and your God.
How lovely it is to see this growth, this progress as the result of occupation with the Lord.
But then more there was one that was missing.
I said there were 10 because Thomas wasn't there.
Thomas deserved a good scolding, you say. Should have been there. Why wouldn't he have been there? Oh, he was doubting.
There wasn't much excuse for it. Perhaps he was doubting. So what did the other disciples do? Well, they followed the same pattern, the same thing that had drawn out the heart of Joseph Baromethea and Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene and the two disciples and then the rest of them. The same thing that had wrought upon their hearts.
Would work upon the heart of one who was absent from the meeting.
The same thing. And so the disciples go, and they say Thomas.
You should have been of meaning. No, they didn't, they said. Thomas. We have seen the Lord. We have seen the Lord. That was enough.
What brought Thomas there? Was it his brethren? No. He wanted to see the Lord. He wanted to see the Lord. And brethren, that's what our hearts need. We need more occupation with himself. We may have to, and we do have to confess how little we know. We have to confess that often we have tears of sorrow and disappointments and frustrations in life.
But always in this precious occupation with him.
Leads to growth in the soul, leads to more courage to confess him, leads to more knowledge of His word, and draws us back when we've been away. So the next time they're together, Thomas is there. And the Lord welcomes Thomas. He singles him out among the rest and speaks to Thomas.
And says reach hit of thy hand and trusted into my side.
And so on. The Lord singles him out and is there one of us that have grown cold and we need to be restored, we need to be brought back? Isn't it lovely to think that if you do come back, the Lord will especially notice you all? You say, well, the others have been there all the time. I'm the one that's been careless. Why should he specially notice me? Well, he does.
And he specially noticed promise.
And if there's one little bit of movement in our hearts toward himself, cold and careless, as though we may have been the Lord. Especially noticing that right now and when we return to our little meeting at home.
When we return to the assembly where we've come from, the Lord is going to notice. He's going to take knowledge of any little desire in their in our hearts to live to please him. Or may He grant that occupation with himself in his sufferings and his death and his resurrection in his ascension may lead to progress.
And growth. And that our lives might be made a blessing to others.
00:30:03
As Mary was, and as the disciples were made to town.