276: Roger Lewis - The Riddle of the Linen Clothes

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:13

   Welcome to Good Chris Selfie and talks. I’m Levi. And I’m Chris. And I’m Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week. With the short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for.

2. 0:31

   The talk you’re about to listen to. And now, let’s talk more about this week’s talk. Hello, this is Chris. Back to you with another talk this week. For this week, we’re listening to a evening program that was given by brother Roger Lewis at the Texas Bible School in 2006. A few weeks ago I was talking to somebody on one of the social media platforms giving recommendations to a different class, and they’d asked if we had other classes from Roger Lewis that were similar to the Evening with Gabriel One, and in the process of talking about it reminded me of this class, which is entitled The Riddle of the Linen Clothes and What makes this class particularly impactful for me and why. I also wanted to recommend it and I’d actually forgotten about it because it had been so long since I heard it until I was talking with the this person a few weeks ago. This is one of the first classes that I really remember from my teenage years having a really significant impact. It just kind of digging into the scriptures and finding so much detail out of just a few verses.

3. 1:51

   The reading before this is John chapter 20, the 1st 10 verses, and in it Brother Rodger is just looking at all the little details of Christ’s resurrection and then in turn being made immortal after he was resurrected. And I just remember hearing this, I think I was 15 or 16 at the time and just seeing the scriptures come alive in a whole new way. For me, when I heard this class the first time, I actually had forgotten that I had ACD of it.

4. 2:19

   I liked it so much I made sure to get a copy when I was at the Bible school. So I was able to go and dig through and find this copy and digitize it here to be able to share with you. And I just remember this particular class being really impactful. As I said to me, I found it really a fascinating one at looking at all the little details that are there in the scriptures to be found if you just dig into them a little bit.

5. 2:41

   None of this is super doctrinally critical stuff, but I just really loved it because it really, like I said, just made the scriptures come alive in a way that I felt like I hadn’t heard before, at least that I could really recall. So I really wanted to share this one. Once I found the old the old CD that we had at home, bundle of other C DS that I had, I really wanted to be able to share this with everybody. So I hope that you.

6. 3:04

   Find this to be as interesting and as impactful as I did both listening to it again now many years later and then also for past Chris when I was just a teenager at the Texas Bible School. So as always, thank you for the suggestions and the recommendations and all the commentary that we get from people through e-mail and social media. We really appreciate everybody being engaged and giving us their feedback.

7. 3:29

   It’s always super useful in the recommendations as well are always invaluable. So I hope you find this to be an encouraging and uplifting talk. And with that, we’ll turn it over to brother Roger Lewis for his class, The Riddle of the Linen Clothes. Well, thank you brother, Chairman and good evening. My dear brothers and sisters.

8. 3:50

   I’ve got the serious topic. There are no overheads, no PowerPoint presentations. But I hope all the same that by the time I’ve finished tonight that you will have still been excited by the Scriptures. And maybe I should come clean and say right at the outset what I’m intending to say tonight, so that you’re not bewildered as the story unfolds tonight, is really a consideration of when the Lord was made immortal.

9. 4:26

   Of course we know the Lord was. Question is simply when. And tonight what I’m going to suggest is that I think the Lord perhaps received immortality very earn early on in the peace, and in fact that he may have received his immortality in the tomb before he stepped forth. Now, before you get anxious about the fact that I’m about to preach immortal emergence, please don’t feel that I’m going to do so, because I’m not.

10. 5:06

    Because I believe, there’s no doubt we all do, that the Lord was raised mortal in common with all his Brezon. In fact, it was very important, wasn’t it, that the Lord be raised mortal because not only was He to, not only was the Lord to experience that change to immortality at the appropriate time that the Father would decide, but it was very important that the Lord be raised in such a way that He did foreshadow the experience of His brethren to come, who would be raised mortal and who would then be judged, and if found worthy, would then receive the blessing of immortality.

11. 5:45

    There was going to be no disturbing of this type and the story of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just a question of the time. In fact, I might just say that the very most we’re only debating a few hours here. I think the traditional viewpoint in Christadelphia up to this point of time has probably been that the Lord received immortality sometime on the Resurrection Day, when we’re not quite sure, but sometime that day.

12. 6:14

    All I’m really going to suggest tonight is that maybe it was just a few hours earlier than that, but certainly after his revival to mortality in the tomb.

13. 6:28

    And the reason why I believe that that granting of immortality to the sun may have been as early as in the tomb itself, well, it’s because of the Riddle of the linen clothes. And that’s what we’re going to look at, God willing by way of investigation tonight. Funny thing, you know how different people can see the same thing in different ways?

14. 6:55

    Come on, have a look at the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24. In the Gospel of Luke and chapter 24, we’re given Peter’s account of the story of the linen clothes, or at least Peter’s viewpoint of them. It says in Luke chapter 24, and reading from verse, maybe from verse 10, says it was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.

15. 7:39

    Then arose Peter and ran unto the Sepulchre, and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wandering in himself at that which was come to pass. And you see, when you read the record concerning Peter’s investigation of the tomb, you get the impression that Peter rushed to the tomb, looked in, saw the linen clothes, and went away shaking his head, saying, I don’t know what it’s all about,

16. 8:07

    I’m really not sure. But when we come to the Gospel of John in chapter 20, as we read it together tonight, we’ve got John’s reaction to the same matter, to the same episode, to the same event. And John says, and John chapter 20, verse four, they both ran together and the other disciple did outrun Peter and came first to the Sepulchre, and he stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying.

17. 8:36

    Yet he went not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and see if 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. And then went in also that other disciple which came first to the sepulchre.

18. 8:53

    And he he saw and believed. Now you see, when it says in John 20 and verse and verse eight that this disciple saw and believed, it could be that John simply believed the report of Mary, that the body was gone. But I think the word belief is generally used in a much more powerful way than that in the Gospel of John. In fact, it’s a keyword in the Gospel of John. And the word belief, as you’ll know, is interchangeable really, with the word for faith.

19. 9:31

    John had faith in something much more than merely that the body was missing. That was obvious. John was the most spiritually acute of the disciples.

20. 9:47

    If anyone was to see a lesson in the linen clothes, then it would be this disciple most of all. And I think there was a tremendous lesson. In fact, there were several tremendous lessons about the linen clothes that might well have exercised the mind of John as he came and looked into the tomb and saw and believed on this occasion, in fact, you realize of course, what John 20 is about.

21. 10:14

    They’re running to the tomb. They’re running to the tomb to verify what brothers and sisters to verify that the body was gone. But that’s not what John 20 focuses on, is it? When John finally arrives at the tomb and writes up the story in his gospel record, he doesn’t focus on the fact that the body had gone.

22. 10:42

    He focuses on what’s there and what was there was the linen clothes. Look at that verse five he saw the linen clothes lying. Verse six he seeth the linen clothes. Verse seven he sees the linen clothes. The focus of John’s attention was not on the body that was gone, but on the linen clothes that were there. A thrice repeated observation that attracted John’s attention. And I think the point of this, brothers and sisters, is that John’s belief was not prompted by what he knew before he entered the tomb, but by what he saw after he entered the tomb. The fact of the empty tomb ran contrary to all his natural expectations, but there was evidence that furnished the basis of his leap to faith on this occasion, and I think what caused John to see and to believe was the eloquent witness of the linen clothes.

23. 11:53

    So let’s tonight try and think for a moment or two what John himself might have pondered as he thought about the linen clothes lying in the sepulchre of Jesus. Just come back to Luke chapter 20 for a moment. I’m sorry, Luke chapter 2, the Gospel of Luke and chapter 2. Just want to read a handful of verses from this particular chapter. Luke 2 says this, and reading from verse 4, verse four to verse 7.

24. 12:33

    And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, unto Judea, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be taxed, with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered, and she brought forth her first born son, wrapped them in swaddling clothes, laid them in a Manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. So at the birth of Christ, brothers and sisters, there was a virgin womb, there was a Joseph, there was a Mary, and there were swaddling clothes.

25. 13:30

    And now come to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew chapter 27 says and reading from verse 59, Matthew 27, verse 59. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb. And of course, Luke adds, wherein never man before was laid a tomb which he had hewn out of the rock, and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. And there was Mary Magdalene.

26. 14:21

    And now at the resurrection of Christ, there is a virgin tomb. There is a Joseph, there is a Mary, and there are swaddling clothes. And I wonder if John thought about whether there was a suggestion here of a new birth. And just how significant might that new birth be? Was it a mere reviving back to mortal life?

27. 14:54

    Or did the man who stepped forth from this tomb possess the life that never ends? Either way, there was a parallel, wasn’t there, that might have struck the attention and the thought of John on this occasion.

28. 15:12

    Come back to John, Chapter 20, and we’re going to come back to John 20 several times. By the way, we want to ring it dry. It’s just a few verses here, but we want to ring them dry. You know, one of the interesting things about the record of the linen clothes is it says there’s it says in verse three that Peter therefore went forth and that other disciple and came to the sepulchre and they ran both together. And the other discipled about, run Peter and came to the sepulchre.

29. 15:40

    They saw the linen clothes lying verse 7. The napkin about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. And to me, one of the remarkable things about the story, the thing that impressed John, is that they came running into the tomb. And there was a sense somehow as if nothing had really been disturbed in that tomb at all.

30. 16:13

    It was as if everything was just as it should be. Everything was in its place. There was no confusion. There was no disarray. There were no strewn bandages. There was no scattering of spices on the stone floor. There was just quietness and a sense, apart from the puzzle of the missing body, that everything was lying just where it should be. And I think you see, that was the Riddle of the linen clothes, wasn’t it?

31. 16:48

    Because there was no signs of flight or removal. And yet, indisputably, the body was gone, and yet there were no signs of haste. There were only signs instead of order. Do you see what the record says that John saw about the linen clothes? He didn’t just see the linen clothes. There’s a keyword. Did you notice that John 20 verse five and he stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying? Then comes Simon Peter, verse 6, and followed him, and he went into the circle here, and he sees 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. Now you see, what they used to do in those days, brothers and sisters, is that they would wrap the body in linen wrappings, with the spices sprinkled between the wrappings and the myrrh And aloes that Nicodemus and and Joseph of Arimathea used were resinous, gummy substances which, when sprinkled as spices on the linen garments would, as it were, glue the garments to the body.

32. 18:11

    And by the time that the legs were wrapped and the arms were wrapped and the torso was wrapped, there was no way you could get the body out of the bandages. It was all glued together. In fact, that’s one of the great mysteries of the two, and it was certainly something that must have exercised the mind of John on this occasion.

33. 18:34

    And you see that word lying in the Greek it means to lie flat, to lie prostate. And I think you see that what John saw was the shape of the body, except the weight of the spices had caused the garments to fall flat. But the outline of the body could still be seen.

34. 18:57

    Mind you, the head napkin was slightly different, because those seven seas concerning the napkin it was, was wrapped together in a place by itself. And the Greek for the word wrapped means literally. It was twirled together, and they crisscrossed the bandages around the head in such a way that even when the head was gone, the concave shape of the crisscrossed bandages meant that the turban remained in the shape of a head, but the head wasn’t there, and the wrappings look like the shape of a body with arms and legs and torso.

35. 19:31

    But they were lying flat, You see, You might recall that there was an occasion when the Lord ascended up into a mountain and was transfigured. The word transfigured, of course, is the Greek word metamorpho, and it’s a word used of course of that transformation that happens when a Caterpillar spins A cocoon. And what they do, of course, the Caterpillar spins A cocoon around itself, and some of the cocoons that you see look for all the world.

36. 20:13

    By the way, like linen wrappings, George happens inside the cocoon of that Caterpillar under the process of metamorphosis. The whole body of the Caterpillar liquefies, completely liquefies, It melts upon itself, and when it’s completely melted, the body miraculously reforms into a new creature entirely.

37. 20:43

    But when the cocoon opens, the creature that emerges is not the creature that entered, and it flies away on Gospel of Wings and leaves behind the outer case of the Old Caterpillar.

38. 20:59

    And I think what John saw when he looked upon the linen clothes, brothers and sisters, was an empty chrysalis. But the body was gone, and the body perhaps was already made beautiful with immortality and removed by divine intervention in some miraculous way. And maybe the mind of John would have recognized that there was in fact an Old Testament prophecy somewhat about the transformation of a cocoon.

39. 21:39

    Well, at least of sorts, was there not? So hold your hand in your right hand. Come to Ephesians chapter 4. So Ephesians chapter 4 in your right hand. I I wonder if the apostle thought of this connection of passages concerning the empty wrappings that he gazed upon in the Sepulchre of Christ. Ephesians, chapter 4. And in your left hand, Psalm 139. Do you remember this passage?

40. 22:13

    So Psalm 139 and Ephesians chapter 4. Now in Psalm 139 we have a prophecy at least in measure about the birth of Christ, because the record says in verse in verse 13. For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right. Well, and so Psalm 139 speaks of the time when the Lord was conceived and developed in the womb of his mother, Mary. Now do you see what Psalm 139 goes on to say, Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrote in the lowest parts of the earth. Ah, now where’s that the lowest parts of the earth? Well, have a look at Ephesians chapter 4. Don’t lose the Psalm, but look at Ephesians chapter 4. Now you see what it says.

41. 23:27

    Verse nine of Ephesians 4. Now he that descended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? There’s the phrase out of Psalm 139. He that descended as the same also that they descended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And so here in Ephesians chapter 4, the lower parts of the earth are contrasted with the Lord who ascended up on high from the depths of Seoul to the heights of heaven. So the phrase the lower parts of the earth and Ephesians chapter 4 verse nine is the grave.

42. 24:12

    So Psalm 139 is not just a prophecy concerning the birth of Christ, but perhaps a prophecy concerning the rebirth of Christ in the tomb. Because verse 16 of Psalm 139 says, or reading verse 15 again, my substance was not hid from thee. When I was made in secret, and curiously wrought on the lowest paths of the earth.

43. 24:36

    Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there were none of them. Here is a prophecy of mysterious embroidery to take part and take place in the lower parts of the earth. And you’ll know that the word curiously wrought in verse 15 is related to the embroidery of the Tabernacle in the Book of Exodus. I’ve got an interesting quotation here from Brother Thomas in Eureka.

44. 25:06

    Actually, it’s Eureka volume one, pages 14 and 15. But you might find that quite a tricky reference because unfortunately it’s Eureka volume one of the little blue Eureka. And so I don’t actually know what the number is in the red Eureka nor in the brown Eureka, not even in the black Eureka. This is the little blue Eureka. But you might track it down, because it’s early on in the piece Eureka, volume one, pages 14 and 15 of the little blue edition.

45. 25:38

    This is what Mother Thomas says, speaking on this very verse. He says the man Jesus who had left behind him, a character which the Father Spirit acknowledged as his own, had been too excellent and admirable a person to be abandoned to the power of the enemy. The corpse rested, waiting to become the basis of a new revelation of spirit.

46. 26:08

    And a spirit revelation was to be given to the body repaired for a body thou repairest for me. Hebrews 10, verse 5A. Breach had been made in it. Its loins were filled with a loathsome disease, and there was no soundness in its flesh. This was its condition while prostate, and hidden in the noisome pit beneath the turf, but those sealed up in Joseph’s cave.

47. 26:39

    It was not concealed from the father’s spirit who had so recently forsaken it. Walls and seals and soldiers could not bar out the spirit from the body he was about to repair for future manifestations. Hence the spirit, and David represents the Son as saying, My body was not concealed from thee when I was made in the secret place I was embroidered in the under parts of the earth.

48. 27:09

    Then I saw mine imperfect substance, and in my book all of them were written as to the days they were fashioned. When there was not one among them, the body was repaired, and in its being freed from the loathsomeness of death, it was created a spiritual body with all the embroidery of the spirit. Psalm 139 And do you see what the Psalm says? The Psalm goes on to say concerning this one, to be embroidered in the lowest parts of the earth. Verse 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me? Oh, God, how great is the sum of them? If I should count them, they are they are more in number than the sand.

49. 28:04

    And now look at these words. When I wake, I am still with thee. Oh yes, I think there’s a prophecy of the resurrection of the Lord and perhaps more than just the resurrection. But the embroidery of his body removed atom by atom from the grave clothes, leaving them disturbed that he might be rebuilt of spiritual body.

50. 28:28

    There was no other way of removing the body from the clothes other than by some operation of Almighty God upon His Son. Now coming to John Chapter 20. And once you’ve got John chapter 20 in your right hand and sitting comfortably, find John Chapter 11 with your left hand

51. 28:54

    and let’s just compare 2 passages in John chapter 20 and John Chapter 11. So John 20 says that John comes in verse 6 or verse 5 and saw the linen clothes lying. Not only were they flat brothers and sisters, but they were there. The body was gone but the clothes were there. Now do you see what John Chapter 11 says? In John 11, verse 41 the record says concerning Lazarus. Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid.

52. 29:42

    And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me, and I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice.

53. 29:56

    Lazarus come forth, and he that was dead came forth. Ah, but he was bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin, and Jesus said, loose him. So what do we make of the emergence of Lazarus from the tomb, brothers and sisters? And the answer is that, you see, Lazarus, although raised clearly, still remained shackled to mortality.

54. 30:35

    The bindings of Death still remained upon him. He was raised, but he’s still mortal. He’s still subject to death. He’s still bound by his grave clothes, and the lesson of John 11 was that although the miracle of resurrection had been had been performed upon Lazarus, that he would nevertheless return to the grave again, because being bound by the grave clothes, he was not yet free from the shackles of mortality. So what do we make, then, of the man of John 20, who has clearly stepped forth from the tomb that left his grave clothes behind him?

55. 31:25

    And presumably the Lord has left mortality behind. He’s now free from all those earthly constraints that the linen grave clothes betokened. He’s not bound like Lazarus, you see. He’s walked away free of the linen clothes. And that takes us to another interesting passage, because if you come to the Book of Leviticus in chapter 16, we come to the day of, well, the Day of Atonement. Leviticus chapter 16 tells us that of course, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would work a work of atonement on behalf of the nation as a whole.

56. 32:20

    In fact, we’re told in verse 15 of Leviticus 16 that he would kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the Bullock, and sprinkle it upon the Mercy Seat and before the Mercy Seat and shall make atonement for the Holy Place And So on.

57. 32:38

    This on this special day, the High Priest went into the Most Holy Place itself to make atonement for his people. You know, brothers and sisters, on this day when the High Priest went into the Most Holy Place, we’re told expressly in verse four that he put on the holy linen coat that he had upon him linen breeches, that he was girded with a linen girdle and had a linen mitre attired upon his head.

58. 33:02

    These are his holy garments, and before he went into the Most Holy Place, he arrayed himself in linen clothes. Now what’s interesting about the Day of Atonement is that when the high priest came back out, by the way, he went in about four times that day. And every every time he he did the same thing. He put linen clothes on every time he went in, but when he came out, he he wasn’t wearing the same clothes. Do you know?

59. 33:34

    Each time he came out he changed. Now Leviticus 16 now he reports one of these episodes. But it was true of the totality of his labours that day. And you see what it says. And Leviticus, chapter 16 and verse 23. And Aaron shall come into the Tabernacle of the congregation, into the most holy, is where he came, of course, to make atonement on that day.

60. 34:01

    And now verse 23 says, And he shall put off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and he shall leave them there. The work of atonement has been completed, and the man who steps forth is arrayed in different garments for glory and beauty when he re emerges and his work of atonement is done. Isn’t that interesting?

61. 34:39

    Do you know, brothers and sisters, if you stop and think about the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ? In a sense, the tomb was a most holy place.

62. 34:53

    Inside that tomb was the Ark of the Covenant. Inside that tomb were two kerubic angels overshadowing the ark. Inside that tomb was the blood spattered mercy seat in the form of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. All the signs of the atonement that had been wrought were to be found in the Sepulchre of Christ, and now the linen clothes are left there as well.

63. 35:31

    When the Lord departs, come back to John chapter 20. There was something else that John saw. We know that he saw it because he makes a special reference to it. He says this John chapter 20.

64. 35:58

    He says verse five he saw the linen clothes but went not in. Simon Peter following him, went into the sepulchre and sees 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. And John saw expressly that they were linen clothes in one place and a linen turban still wrapped in its shape in another place, And that these two garments were distinct and different, the one from the other.

65. 36:33

    They weren’t all bundled together. There was the linen clothes and the linen turban. But if you come back to Zechariah chapter three, you remember the promise that was made to Joshua the high priest as a result of his faithfulness. We’re told in Joshua chapter 3 and verse 3 the record says this Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the Angel.

66. 37:09

    And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I’ve caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment. And I said, let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and plathed him with garments.

67. 37:40

    The Angel of Yahweh stood by, and the prophecy of Zechariah prophesied of a time when there would be a change of garments and a change of head covering. And in the tomb is left behind a set of garments and a head covering, in a sense. You see, the Lord’s been given his reward.

68. 38:07

    Oh, and come back to John, Chapter 20. I think there was something else that John saw. You see, You see, John 20 says concerning the napkin. Verse seven, it says. And the napkin that was about his head not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together, and not just wrapped together, but in a place by itself, by itself. So the head turban was separated from the rest of the linen clothes.

69. 38:32

    And you notice it doesn’t say that the clothes were by themselves, it says the turban was by itself. The emphasis was on the fact that the wrapping for the head was in a place of its own, and therefore there was a gap between itself and the rest of the linen garments which pertained to the body. Now come to Ephesians chapter one and you’ll remember. Or you may remember what it says at the end of Ephesians chapter one.

70. 39:00

    Ephesians chapter One puts it this way, and I think John perhaps saw and understood the significance of this matter. The turban, the napkin wrapped in a place by itself, separated from the linen garments. There’s a gap between the two and verse. Ephesians chapter one, verse 22 says that after the resurrection of Christ it says, And he has put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the ecclesia which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all. So you see, the Ecclesia of Christ is considered to be his body and the Lord is considered to be the head of that body. In fact, it’s in this very epistle that we’re exhorted to grow up unto him which is our head, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

71. 40:13

    But there’s a gap when you come to the First of Corinthians. In chapter 15 we understand why they had to be again that little separation of space that John saw in his alertness to all the details. First of Corinthians chapter 15 says in verse 22. For as in Adam all die, Even so in Christ, so all be made alive. But every man in his own order,

72. 40:59

    Christ the first fruits, the neck can wrapped in a place by itself, and afterwards they that a Christ it is coming the linen clothes of his body. And in the separation between the head napkin and the clothes, there was a prophecy of the resurrection of both Christ and the Saints that would follow a gap of time being between the two marvellous brother and sisters. Every detail was so important in the story of the linen clothes that John saw on this occasion as he looked with wondering eyes into the sepulchre.

73. 41:51

    Now do you know there are three stages to the process of judgement as we understand it, or the process of resurrection and judgement as we understand it to come. And it’s really summarized by three Greek words. You’ll know them Anastasis, the standing up of dead ones.

74. 42:13

    Grino, The time of judgement. E Gyro, the rebuilding to immortality itself. Those are the three stages that we all hope to go through, that we might end up with a body like Christ, so that we can praise the Father in the Kingdom without the weakness of our mortal nature ever constraining us again. Anesthesis.

75. 42:41

    Crino Igyro. Now think about that just for a moment. With regard to our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the Lord clearly was raised Anesthesis, the bringing back to life of a dead one. It happened for the Lord in the two, no doubt about that whatsoever. And by the way, He was mortal when he was revived. He had to be mortal, not only as a parable for his brethren, but for another reason that we should look at by and by. And was the Lord going to experience the process of egyo, of rebuilding to immortality?

76. 43:17

    Why, yes, of course, But the middle word, Krino. Now what was there that the father needed to judge in the Son, do you think? And the answer was nothing at all. So you see, there was no need in the case of the Lord for there to be an extensive delay between his revival from the dead and his rebuilding to immortality.

77. 43:56

    It’s the same process. But there was no need for delay, was there? Do you know what the Lord said when he hung up on the cross as his life expired? He said it is finished and what he meant was that all his labours, all his work, all the responsibility of bringing the work of atonement to a conclusion, it’s all finished, it’s all done. And so it was.

78. 44:33

    And I think that when the Lord was brought back to life in the tomb, brothers and sisters, all the yearning of his heavenly Father would be to glorify his Son just as soon as he possibly could, don’t you think? He certainly wouldn’t want to say to him, well, look, sudden, you’re going to be given immortality this afternoon, but there’s a few hours left.

79. 44:54

    So whatever you do, don’t do anything that might upset the work that’s been accomplished. Why would God do that? Why would God cause the sun to wait any longer than was necessary? So how long was necessary, do you think, brothers and sisters? Well, I think there is an answer, you see. So come to Psalm 45.

80. 45:32

    See, I think the Lord probably experienced the Psalm, or at least this moment of in Psalm 45 the record says this verse 7. Psalm 45 Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness. Therefore God thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows all thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes, and cassia.

81. 46:20

    And when the Lord lying in the sepulchre revived, I wonder if he thought about that verse, brothers and sisters, as he took his first mortal breath again. And he breathed in the smell of the spices that he was wrapped in at that time, and he felt his mortal life come back into him The breath and the spirit of God revived him, and he was awake again.

82. 46:42

    He was aware of being awake, he was aware of being alive, he was aware of being mortal, and he could smell the spices. But he hadn’t yet had the oil of gladness to anoint him, had he?

83. 47:04

    So how long would God wait from that first sense of the reviving of mortal life before He would flood his Son with that indescribable sense of joy and well-being and happiness that would come with the flooding of immortality into his body to release him forever? How long would it be brothers and sisters? And I think the answer is just as long as the as the Lord needed to know mortality again so that He could experience the thrill and the joy of immortality. And I think it was the Father’s good pleasure at that time to grant that to him.

84. 47:51

    And that the man who stepped forth into the fresh air of the early morning on that day in Jerusalem was a man already in possession of his reward, and filled now with a life that could never be taken from him. Well, who knows? Brothers and sisters, it’s not a matter finally, of doctrinal fundamental significance. It’s only a debate of hours of time. Just a few hours.

85. 48:28

    But if we can piece together just a handful of scriptures, I wonder what John must have thought with his spiritually acute mind, whether he put all that together and much more besides. And that that’s why the record tells us that when John looked and saw, he believed.

86. 48:54

    He believed brothers and sisters. Because I think he’d understood the Riddle of the linen clothes. Thank you for listening. To the good ’cause Adelphian Talks Podcast. We hope this talk helped you in your walk and brightened your day. If you would like to hear more, please subscribe for new episodes. We are on all major podcast platforms and also on YouTube. If you enjoyed this particular talk, please share it with someone else who you think might enjoy it too. For show notes on the talk you just listened to, visit [email protected] or check out the Show Notes section of your podcast player.

87. 49:49

    Please share your thoughts on the talk from This week on our Facebook or Instagram pages where we are at good Christadelphian talks, or leave a comment on our YouTube channel where these talks are posted as well. If you enjoy. Listening to the talks that we post and here one that you think we should share, please tell us about it. You can send a suggestion using the Contact Us tab on our website or messages on any of our social media accounts. Thank you for listening.

88. 50:13

    God bless and talk to you next week.