1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,120 or contact us at mylibertybaptist.org or just 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,760 look us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:31,360 Matthew Chapter 26. Matthew chapter 262526242526. 8 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,040 They're all kind of connected together and we're taking 1 9 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:38,840 little portion out of that. It's a unique portion. 10 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,040 Let me go ahead and read it and then I'll give you the title of 11 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,960 the message this morning and we'll make some other comments 12 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:47,320 about it as we introduce and get into it. 13 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,280 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, 14 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,280 he said unto his disciples, You know that after two days, as the 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,480 feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be 16 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,160 crucified. Then assemble together the chief 17 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,400 priests and the scribes and the elders of the people under the 18 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,880 palace of the high priest, who is called Caiaphas and 19 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,920 consulted, that they might take Jesus by subtility and kill him. 20 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,280 But they said not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar 21 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,760 among the people. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, 22 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,080 in the House of Simon the Leper, there came unto him a woman 23 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,920 having an alabaster box of precious ointment, and poured it 24 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:29,960 upon his head, as he set it meat. 25 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,800 But when his disciples saw it, they had an indignation, saying, 26 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,320 To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have 27 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:42,440 been sold for much, and given to the poor. 28 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,400 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye 29 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,920 the woman? For she hath wrought a good work 30 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,640 upon me. For you have the poor, we're 31 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,920 always with you, but Me you have not always. 32 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,760 For in that she have poured this ointment upon my on my body, she 33 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,240 did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, 34 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,800 wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, 35 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:12,200 there shall also this that this woman hath done, be told for 36 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:18,160 memorial of her. In William Shakespeare's play 37 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,880 Julius Caesar, there's a comment that's made in it. 38 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:25,160 And here's the quote. The evil men do lives after 39 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,320 them. The good is often turd with 40 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,720 their bones. Quite a thought when you think 41 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,280 about it. The evil that men do continues 42 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:38,560 to live on and on and on, but the good is often forgot about. 43 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,160 And so as we take a look at this, we're reminded that here 44 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,160 is a what? What we might think is a strange 45 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,840 deed that lasts forever. But I would like us to focus 46 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:54,880 upon one particular thought, and it's found in verse #8 And when 47 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,960 his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, to what 48 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,280 purpose is this waste? So I want to ask you this 49 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:04,560 question this morning. Is it a waste? 50 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:07,000 Is it a waste? Let's go to the Lord in prayer. 51 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,400 Father, as we open up your word this morning, I pray that the 52 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,960 Holy Spirit of God first move and work in my own heart. 53 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,200 I thank you for the blessing. This passage is to me. 54 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,200 And Father, I pray that we could see you and see the message that 55 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,240 you have for us today that our lives when we leave here this 56 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:26,400 morning would not be the same that we came in. 57 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:31,080 Father, I thank you that that you love us and I thank you, 58 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,720 Father, that your love is lavished upon us and we'll thank 59 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,600 you and praise you in Jesus precious name, Amen. 60 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:43,800 Is it a waste? Is it a waste? 61 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,520 Being close to Boston, you are probably aware of the Big Dig. 62 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,880 It started in 1990. It started in 1991. 63 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,760 The project was supposed to be $2.6 billion. 64 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,360 It was supposed to be finished in 1998. 65 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:09,760 It didn't get finished in two, 2007 and it was $228 billion. 66 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,800 There are a lot of people who think, man, there must be a lot 67 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,360 of waste in that one, a lot of waste in that one. 68 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,040 How about this one, If you've ever been to Montreal, they have 69 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:25,920 their Olympic complex. It, it was designed in the in 70 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:30,320 the very beginning to in 19801976 to be ready for the 71 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,760 Olympics and it was supposed to cost 1.5 billion. 72 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:40,560 It didn't come to completion in 1987 at three, I'm sorry, it 73 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,880 started at 300 million. It finished at 1.5 billion. 74 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:52,040 The Sydney Opera House 1959 was supposed to cost 7 million. 75 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,040 It didn't get finished until 1973 at the cost of 102 million. 76 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:02,480 We probably heard on the news that the high speed rail system 77 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:11,160 in California it, it was supposed to be a $33 billion 78 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,880 when it was all said and done. But here we are years and years 79 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,560 later, there's no track and we're that's estimated to be 80 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:24,600 over $230 billion if it ever gets finished. 81 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,600 You know, we talk about things being a waste or wastefulness. 82 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:36,160 Some of you probably have some ideas about that, perhaps even 83 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,720 at your own house. I don't know how strict you are 84 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,080 about wandering through the house and turning off all the 85 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,240 lights if nobody's there, right? I mean, if nobody's going to 86 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:45,520 stay in the room, turn the lights off. 87 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:49,840 You know how, how we do things like that because we, we, we 88 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:52,720 don't want to waste things. And from time to time the 89 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,360 government tells us this about all the things that we waste, 90 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,920 like plastic straws or single use, you know, plastic, plastic 91 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:03,880 Ware, even though it's sometimes it's pretty convenient, but we, 92 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:10,800 we have food cartoons that, that holds our food and we throw all 93 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:15,160 those kinds of things away. Matter of fact, Connecticut has 94 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:17,960 this and Hartford, I don't know if it's still open or not, but 95 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:23,160 we had a Museum of trash because they were keeping track of all 96 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:25,600 the strange things that people throw away. 97 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:30,160 Certainly, I think we'd all have to recognize that there is a 98 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,040 little bit of wastefulness in all of us. 99 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:36,040 And certainly a lot of we see a lot of waste in other people and 100 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,120 other things. Maybe not so much in our self, 101 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:42,840 but you know, I, I grow up and it was you're supposed to finish 102 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:47,400 everything that's on your plate. They're kids starving someplace. 103 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:49,960 If you don't eat that, you deprive them of their food. 104 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:51,760 Eat everything that's on your plate. 105 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:57,120 I should weigh 500 lbs. And today I, I try to be careful 106 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,000 about what I put on my plate, that it's, my eyes are not 107 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,080 bigger than my stomach, but you know how it is. 108 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,960 Sometimes you get hungry and you start putting stuff on there and 109 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,520 you get about halfway through it and you're thinking, oh, no, Oh 110 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,120 no. This is way more than I, I 111 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,520 anticipated. And I'll have to figure out 112 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:15,760 something to do. I'll either have to take it home 113 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,520 for leftovers, which I really don't want to eat, or I've got 114 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,960 to just toss it. Wastefulness, wastefulness, 115 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,720 there are a lot of things that that we think of when we think 116 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,240 of wastefulness. And it says when the disciples 117 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,040 saw it, they were, they had an indignation saying to what 118 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,520 purpose was this waste? So let's back up a little bit 119 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:36,760 and kind of get the picture here. 120 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:40,480 We are just days away from the crucifixion of the Lord. 121 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:48,560 It's interesting that there are three different accounts that 122 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,320 are given. Actually, I should of this 123 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,560 Matthew, Mark and John. And then there's an account in 124 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,600 Luke. Luke Chapter 7 gives the account 125 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,960 of a woman that came to Jesus and and poured out the ointment 126 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,760 upon him. But I I believe that if you 127 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,800 study and read the scriptures clearly, you'll discover that 128 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,800 what happened in Luke Chapter 7 was early in the ministry of the 129 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,560 Lord. But what happens in Matthew, in 130 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:19,000 Mark, and in John happens just days before the Lord is 131 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,360 crucified. And one of the things that 132 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:29,440 sometimes throws people off is that here in Matthew we find in 133 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,039 verse 26 that two days is the feast of the Passover. 134 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,159 One of the important things to learn about the Bible, 135 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:39,640 particularly through the Gospels, they're not always in 136 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,840 chronological order. Sometimes the events are grouped 137 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,920 together to tell us about a particular story. 138 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:52,720 Remember that that each of the four gospels are designed to 139 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:57,240 give different segments of society a a glimpse and a 140 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:01,440 picture of who Jesus is. All of them put together give us 141 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,400 a more complete picture. But Matthew was written 142 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:09,280 primarily to Jewish people. He presents Jesus as the King. 143 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:14,760 He, he gives his, his genealogy so that they can trace that back 144 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:18,840 and the genealogy with Abraham and with David and so forth. 145 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,200 When you go to Luke, Luke gives the genealogy that goes all the 146 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,200 way back to Adam because Luke was designed for the, for the 147 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,720 Greek readers, for the, for the the Gentiles to read. 148 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:36,280 Mark is a, a gospel that speaks about Jesus as a servant. 149 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,280 There's there's no mention of his, his genealogy, there's no 150 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,600 mention of his birth. It just begins with, with him. 151 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:48,040 And Mark covers a lot of the, the things that Jesus said and 152 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,720 Jesus did. And then you come to the Gospel 153 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,840 of John and John presents Jesus as the Son of God. 154 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,480 And what a what a glorious picture. 155 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:01,800 And everything throughout the book of John is geared toward 156 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,920 this one purpose that that we would recognize that Jesus is 157 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,440 the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that we would 158 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:12,240 have faith in him. Now that's the that's the point 159 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:16,160 of all the gospel writers is that we would know who Jesus is 160 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:21,920 and believe on him in in the Gospel of John, John gives us 161 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:26,560 the same account in chapter 12 of the Gospel of John. 162 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:32,440 Now interestingly, John tells us that that the event took place 163 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:34,840 six days. There was a feast. 164 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,400 Now that Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany 165 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:41,120 where Lazarus was that have been dead, whom he raised from the 166 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:42,760 dead. And there they made him a 167 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,640 supper. And so we go back to Matthew and 168 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:49,400 Matthew says this and verse number one that he finished 169 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:51,520 these things. And verse 2 he says after two 170 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:53,200 days is the feast of the Passover. 171 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:55,880 And sometimes they see there's a contradiction. 172 00:10:55,880 --> 00:11:00,240 John says that six days, Matthew says it's two days. 173 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,240 And so they look at the conflict and they say, see there there's 174 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:06,080 some errors, there are mistakes in the Bible. 175 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:10,040 But I want to point out to you that that I believe John gives a 176 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:14,560 more chronological order and that Matthew gives us an event 177 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:17,840 order. Matthew is tying the event to 178 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:22,360 what took place in the first 3 verses when it tells us in verse 179 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,600 #3 they assembled together the chief priest and scribes and 180 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,680 elders of the people under the palace of the high priest who 181 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:33,040 was called Caiaphas, and they consulted how they might take 182 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:37,400 him by subtility and kill him. When you read on through this, 183 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:41,960 you'll also find that John identifies how that Judas took 184 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,160 the went to the chief priest to betray the Lord. 185 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:50,120 And so so Matthew is kind of lumping the event together, not 186 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:54,360 necessarily a chronological order, but to put us into to 187 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:58,560 think about this here. Here is, is the chief priest and 188 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,600 the scribes and the elders of the people and they're thinking 189 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,720 in their mind, we somehow we have to get rid of Jesus of 190 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:06,760 Nazareth. We've got to get rid of him. 191 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:12,080 Along with that you have the betrayal of Judas and yet in 192 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:16,400 between is in his purse. This little story about how that 193 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:18,800 Mary comes along and anoints the Lord. 194 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:25,520 So Matthew's giving us a series of contrast in this while I 195 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:28,960 believe that John is giving us a little more of the chronological 196 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,120 order. And here's what's interesting. 197 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:36,280 John Chapter 11 John Chapter 11. Jesus hears that Nicodemus, not 198 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,200 Nicodemus. Jesus hears that Lazarus is sick 199 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:44,600 and probably needs some help, and he delays his going. 200 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:49,360 And you remember the story. Jesus waits until Lazarus has 201 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:53,400 died and he makes the journey to visit Mary and Martha. 202 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:58,800 Remember how that it's in John Chapter 11 that Martha says to 203 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,200 him, Lord, if you'd have been here, our brother had not died. 204 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:04,920 Isn't it strange how we limit God? 205 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:09,240 We think that he can, you know, give sight to the blind. 206 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,120 We think that he can do these things and he can do that and, 207 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:14,600 and, and, and many wonderful things that he could do. 208 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,680 But when it comes to somebody dead, well, there's not anything 209 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:21,840 God can do. And so Jesus raised up Lazarus 210 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,320 from the dead. What an awesome thing, 211 00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:28,480 especially considering it's just a short time before Jesus is 212 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:32,240 going to be crucified and he's going to gloriously rise again 213 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,360 on the third day. Listen, that makes our hope all 214 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:39,040 worthwhile. That gives us, that gives us 215 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,680 everything that we need to endure and to stay with it. 216 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:51,360 And so while Matthew and Mark and John relate all these 217 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,880 things, they, Matthew and Mark related to the the plot of the 218 00:13:55,880 --> 00:14:01,160 Jewish leaders and, and John relates it in particular to the 219 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:10,080 events that are taking place. So again, verse #3 I'm sorry, 220 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:14,120 verse number six of Matthew 26. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, 221 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,920 in the House of Simon the leper, there came into him a woman 222 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,320 having an alabaster box of precious ointment and poured it 223 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:25,760 on his head as he sat at meat. But when his disciples thought 224 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:30,400 they had an indignation, saying, to what purpose was this waste? 225 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:36,160 I get a picture of this because it tells us that it was a The 226 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,760 other scriptures tell us several things about it. 227 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:41,280 One, it tells us that it was spikenard. 228 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,720 So we know a little bit about where it came from. 229 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:50,280 Spikenard came from India. Most, most in the area of the 230 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:54,920 Himalayan mountains in Nepal. And that area is where this 231 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:57,840 plant grows. And when it's crushed, it gives 232 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:03,680 off such a, a, a, a distinct, A distinct aroma that tells us 233 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,120 this, that she had it in this alabaster box. 234 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:10,000 It's not just common pottery, but it's in a special thing. 235 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,400 And they said here that it's a might have been sold for much. 236 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,160 We learned that it was worth 300 pence. 237 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,800 So it's worth about a year's wages of the average common 238 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,720 laborer. So if the men that are here that 239 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,320 you're married and you have a wife, I want you to think about 240 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,360 what would your wife think if you bought a bottle of perfume 241 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,680 that cost you a year's salary? You you find her, sleep in bed 242 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:36,440 and you walk up to her and then pour out the whole bottle on 243 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,480 her. You're probably going to be 244 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,120 asked the question, why was this waste made right? 245 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:44,440 I mean, why do it all at once, right? 246 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,120 And people will look at this. Some of you are thinking I'm 247 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:51,760 worth it. OK. 248 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,600 I I don't know. I mean, you know, you guys got 249 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,040 to work that one out for yourself. 250 00:15:56,040 --> 00:16:00,520 But my wife, if I did that, if I poured a bottle of perfume on 251 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,200 her that cost me a whole year's wages, she going to look at me 252 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:06,080 and think, what in the world are you do? 253 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:12,760 Have you lost your mind? So I kind of get it that the 254 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,880 disciples, the apostles, are a little disturbed about all of 255 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,800 this. Interestingly, it says this 256 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:23,800 about them. And Mark, Mark, it says some of 257 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,280 them here. It says that when his disciples 258 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:29,720 saw it, John tells us that it was Judas. 259 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,480 So I kind of get the picture here that that Judas saw what 260 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,760 was done, and because he carried the bag and all that, he started 261 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:43,000 saying something and then somebody else picked up on it 262 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:44,920 and somebody else picked up on it. 263 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:46,840 And so it began to spread among them. 264 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,600 And before long, they're all thinking, wait a minute, what 265 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:51,360 was this done? Why was this done? 266 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,600 You don't think how easy it is for people to get caught in a 267 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,040 snare like that. Somebody gets talking, and then 268 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,960 people begin to to listen to it just a little bit, say, hey, 269 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,400 yeah, that's right. And before long you have a whole 270 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:11,079 mob. Why was this waste made? 271 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:16,599 They had indignation. But you see it. 272 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,920 It was Mary who who we find sitting at the feet of Jesus. 273 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:30,360 It was Mary who found blessings at the feet of Jesus in the 274 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:36,320 culture of the time Jesus is at, at a meal, they didn't sit at a 275 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,360 table like we usually do. They had they kind of reclined 276 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:42,600 on a couch and faced in toward the table. 277 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:45,160 And they would lay on one side and they'd use one hand and 278 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:47,840 they'd reach in reach in and, and, and they would eat their 279 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:51,920 food, usually with bread and they would dip it and, and eat 280 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:56,160 it, eat it on that fashion. And and men and women for the 281 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,840 most part, didn't eat meals together. 282 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,760 Men and women did not particularly have interactions 283 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,560 with each other. Women lived in their part of the 284 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,360 house, and they had an interaction with the women and 285 00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:10,320 of course, with their husband and with their children 286 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,400 privately. But in a public gathering, women 287 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,640 would not be there. And so here's Jesus with a group 288 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,680 of men, and it's here, they're having this meal and it's think 289 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:23,280 about this. Jesus is just as calm as he can 290 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:28,680 be, knowing that they're already plotting to destroy him. 291 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,680 He already knows that Judas is the betrayer and that he's going 292 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,200 already gone to them and given him up to betray him. 293 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,200 You see, Jesus was the one person that knew this. 294 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,160 He was born for the purpose of death, to die. 295 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:51,240 You know, all the rest of us are born to live, but Jesus was born 296 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,760 to die, or we'll all die. But we weren't born to die. 297 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,320 We were born to live and Jesus was born to die. 298 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,160 So here he is calmly having a meal with them, knowing that 299 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:06,040 it's just days out, knowing all these things have gone on and a 300 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:11,680 woman comes in behind. I want to say this about about 301 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,280 this Mary. Mary comes in and she begins as 302 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:20,880 it tells us here that that she took the alabaster box of 303 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,360 ointment and poured it upon his head as he said it. 304 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:32,280 Me. For Mary, it was a shameful 305 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,200 display far as culture was concerned. 306 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,880 Shameful, shameful. This is out of the norm. 307 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:44,520 This is this is way beyond and yet here she is in full display 308 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:48,880 of a room full of men, way out of culture, way out of it. 309 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:53,320 She's taking the most expensive gift that she has and she's 310 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:56,800 pouring it all at Once Upon the Lord, upon his head and upon his 311 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,800 feet. She is demonstrating her public 312 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,920 affection and her unashamed love for Him. 313 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,520 One of the things about it is everybody's going to know this, 314 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:11,480 that Mary had an inestimable love for the Lord Jesus Christ. 315 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,640 What a contrast when you think about here's the chief priest 316 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,680 and the scribes who were supposed to be experts in the 317 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,880 Jews religion. Who should have recognized that 318 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:27,400 Jesus was the complete fulfillment of everything 319 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,600 written in the Old Testament, and they should have been there 320 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,280 to worship at his feet? But they're plotting and we got 321 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,760 to get rid of this guy. We have to kill him. 322 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:42,080 What a contrast when you think, here's a group of men who 323 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:46,920 traveled with Jesus for three years plus and one of them is 324 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:50,920 already thinking I'm going to betray him to the chief priest 325 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,600 and to the scribes because something needs to be done. 326 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:02,120 I don't know what the motivation was of Judas, but Judas betrayed 327 00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:05,600 the Lord. What a contrast. 328 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:12,040 Those that hate the Lord and those that love them, you know, 329 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,800 the only meant the perfume that was poured out is the kind of 330 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,720 present that was you would honor the king. 331 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:20,680 It's the kind of things that you would give to a king. 332 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,800 Remember when Jesus was born and the wise men came and they 333 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,520 opened their gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 334 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:30,480 Why did they give that? Because they said we've come to 335 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:32,840 worship him as born king of the Jews. 336 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,160 What Mary has offered him. It's what, what the kind of 337 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:38,640 things that you would give to A to a king. 338 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,120 And it is the purest devotion of love. 339 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,240 It was misunderstood by everyone else around, but it was not 340 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,760 misunderstood by Jesus. I want to tell you something 341 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:50,760 this morning. As far as the world is 342 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:53,720 concerned, your love for the Lord Jesus Christ will be 343 00:21:53,720 --> 00:22:00,080 misunderstood. I'd say I remember when my dad 344 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,560 got saved. My brother and I got saved in a 345 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:06,280 vacation Bible school and it was probably about a year later, I 346 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,480 guess, when my dad finally got saved and we started going to 347 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,760 church and everybody thought it was a great thing for my dad to 348 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:14,920 get saved. As a matter of fact, the some of 349 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,160 the comments that were made, well, if God can save Gene 350 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:18,880 Davis, he can save about anybody. 351 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,200 People were happy to see my dad got religion and they were 352 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,840 happy. And so when we started going to 353 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:27,680 church, the family thought, this is great. 354 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:30,440 You know, my dad's got some religion. 355 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:34,840 So we'd go on Sunday mornings and then after a while, my dad 356 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:40,040 listened to the messages and, and you know what, I think we 357 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:41,920 probably ought to start going back on Sunday night. 358 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:45,520 So we start coming back on Sunday night. 359 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:48,600 Our, our practice was that on weekends. 360 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,080 We, we, we didn't, we didn't go to church. 361 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,840 We did things as a family. We went to baseball games, we 362 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,240 went camping. We did, we did things together. 363 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:58,840 We did cookouts, we did all kinds of things. 364 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,680 We'd go to my grandparents, we'd hang out there all weekend. 365 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:03,760 We'd go to the lake, we'd do all these kind of things. 366 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,000 We didn't have time for church. Now we're going. 367 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,920 Now we show up at my grandparents Sunday afternoon 368 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,400 and then we leave early on Sunday afternoon so we can make 369 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,200 sure we get back to church on Sunday night. 370 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:21,320 That began to bother some of the family. 371 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,000 It didn't bother my grandma, that's that's for sure. 372 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,480 It didn't bother her. She was actually pretty proud of 373 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:32,280 it. But my dad, we go Sunday 374 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,960 mornings, we go Sunday nights. Before Long said, you know, 375 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:39,080 wait, actually he was bowling on Wednesday nights. 376 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,040 And one time as he was bowling, he threw the ball and went into 377 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,560 the gutter and he said, what am I doing here? 378 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:53,720 When the league was over, we never went back. 379 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:56,040 We started going to church on Wednesday night. 380 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,720 It wasn't long until my dad started right now to check every 381 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,960 week ties and offerings and putting them into the plate on 382 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,040 Sunday. Not only that, the church we did 383 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,800 what we call visitation, we did that on Thursday nights. 384 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,800 My folks started going to that. Now everybody thinks this. 385 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,360 My dad's joined a cult and he's gone crazy. 386 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,080 Nobody needs to go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night. 387 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:24,960 Why do you need to go three times a week? 388 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,720 And then on top of that, not only do you not need to go three 389 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:34,280 times a week, but you're given 10% who does that. 390 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,720 And then to make matters the the worst of everything, you're 391 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,560 bothering people one night every week. 392 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:50,920 See, culture doesn't understand when God does something in your 393 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:55,680 life, you learn to love him. And Mary love the Lord. 394 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:58,840 And she was unashamed in what she did. 395 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:01,720 She was unashamed. She didn't. 396 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,040 It didn't matter to her what the culture said. 397 00:25:04,360 --> 00:25:07,080 It didn't matter to her what people around her said. 398 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,520 The disciples were indignant. The others did not understand. 399 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,960 But as far as Mary was concerned, Jesus was worthy. 400 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,360 Was it a waste? Was it a waste? 401 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:24,160 One of the things about love is this, that love never ask how 402 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:29,200 little you can give love. Ask the question, how much can I 403 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:31,720 give? How much can I give? 404 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,080 You see, you don't have to love to give. 405 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:38,080 People do that all the time, don't they? 406 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:41,000 We've all done that. We've given to something. 407 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,760 We don't love it, we give it to it. 408 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:44,320 You know, there's a need, whatever. 409 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:46,400 We just give to it. But I'm going to tell you this 410 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,040 when you're in love with someone, when you're in love 411 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:51,040 with something, you can't help but give to it. 412 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,880 It's interesting that here they are indignant about this, and 413 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,280 this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the 414 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,400 poor. When Jesus understood it, he 415 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,360 said to them, Why trouble ye the woman? 416 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,720 That word trouble is an interesting word. 417 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:10,720 The word trouble comes from this. 418 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,800 It has the idea to beat something or to smite it. 419 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,760 It's an unusual term. It's a term that that that that 420 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:20,920 Jesus used. It has the idea of something 421 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,880 with intensity. It's a striking phrase. 422 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,960 It was uncommon. Here it is her happiest moment 423 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:32,000 to do something for the Lord Jesus Christ, to honor him, to 424 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,560 be at his feet and worship him. And everybody else is 425 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:40,920 criticizing her. You know, there are a lot of 426 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,520 people who won't be able to stand up to the criticism and 427 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:47,760 they'll fall away. They'll get tighter. 428 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,440 The pressure that comes from family, from friends. 429 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,520 I mean, look at this. These were people who knew that 430 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,600 disciples were people who knew Mary. 431 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,040 They knew her. They knew her brother Lazarus, 432 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:04,040 they knew her sister Martha, they knew. 433 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,600 And yet here they are indignant that she's done this. 434 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:11,800 And Jesus said, why do you trouble her, indicating that 435 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:17,360 this was directed toward her? I'm going to tell you something. 436 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,280 You fall in love with the Lord and you begin to give your all 437 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,680 to him. Don't be surprised that people 438 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,080 are upset about it and don't be surprised that you get troubled 439 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:31,040 about it. There's something else that's 440 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,400 found in this same verse. He said, why trouble ye, the 441 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,480 woman? And then the next statement, for 442 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:38,960 she has brought a good work on me. 443 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,440 She has brought a good work on me. 444 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,920 Again, it's one of those interesting words because it's 445 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,440 one that there can be a couple of meanings to this, but the 446 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:53,600 particular word that's used here that for good has the idea of 447 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,760 something that is beautiful, something that is excellent, 448 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,120 something that is precious. It has the idea of something 449 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:03,120 that is valuable, that is virtuous. 450 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,400 You know what it was? Lavish love. 451 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:15,360 Lavish love, Was it a waste? Was it a waste? 452 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:22,200 It was extravagant. They didn't understand it, but 453 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,760 you know that love that motivates the worship of the 454 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:31,120 Lord Jesus Christ perfumes the life and environment of those 455 00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:34,320 that are around it. The disciples were wrapped up in 456 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:39,040 notions their own self notions about the Kingdom and and they 457 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:43,880 they were not grasping the the cross and the resurrection. 458 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,080 But the Lord said this about her. 459 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,840 For she for in that she have poured this ointment on my body, 460 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,760 she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, 461 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,600 whatsoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, 462 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,280 there shall also this that this woman hath done be told from 463 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,880 memorial to her. Here's something that Jesus 464 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:07,680 approved of. What she did, the world did not. 465 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:11,720 The scribes, the Pharisees, the chief priests did not. 466 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:16,000 The apostles, the disciples did not, but Jesus did. 467 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,280 Can I tell you, when it comes right down to it, it doesn't 468 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,600 matter what the world thinks. What matters is what the Lord 469 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,680 Jesus Christ thinks about it. And I'm going to tell you this, 470 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:30,640 you cannot lavish too much love on Jesus Christ. 471 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:35,280 Mary anticipated the death and the resurrection. 472 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,000 I find that so incredible that while I have this portion here 473 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,840 because I, I wanted that statement to what purpose is 474 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:45,720 this waste? But if you go to the Gospel of 475 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:51,000 John, Chapter 11 is about Lazarus dying and Jesus coming 476 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,960 and, and, and, and Martha said, Lord, if you've been here, a 477 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:56,200 brother had not died. And Mary said essentially the 478 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,400 same thing. And so they, he said, take me 479 00:29:58,400 --> 00:29:59,920 where he is. They take him over there. 480 00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:02,760 And Mary Martha's all, all kind of disraught. 481 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:05,560 He's already been dead for days. And Jesus simply said this 482 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,600 Lazarus come forth and out he came. 483 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:13,160 Turn him loose and let him go. I am the resurrection of the 484 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:22,480 life. 2000 years, we still read this passage and we still think 485 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:26,480 about Mary and we think about the lavishness of her love. 486 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:32,760 Have you ever given a sacrificial gift, maybe to a 487 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,440 husband, to a wife, to your children? 488 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:40,280 You ever given a sacrificial gift? 489 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,960 Lavish upon someone. Not just, not just. 490 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:46,720 I find myself doing this sometimes. 491 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,440 I respond to the need rather than responding in love. 492 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,000 In other words, I want to give whatever it takes to meet the 493 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,680 need. Love goes way beyond that. 494 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:02,120 Extravagant. There are a lot of people who 495 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:06,240 buy new things for their house. People will buy a new car, they 496 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:09,400 buy a new furniture, they buy a new clothes, and they think that 497 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:11,600 they're second hand stuff is good enough for God. 498 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,040 I mean, that's how we all operate, isn't it? 499 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:19,400 We take our second hand stuff and we offer that as a donation 500 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,120 to something. I wonder when's the last time 501 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:25,800 that we bought something new and gave that to God and we'd use 502 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:31,440 the used stuff. Lavish love, Lavish love. 503 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,120 It's not good enough for you, but it was good enough for God. 504 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:41,000 Do you ever consider how God lavishes us in love? 505 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:44,280 Just stop for a moment and think about this. 506 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:48,080 God has his own arithmetic. He doesn't add things up like we 507 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:50,680 do. He doesn't weigh, weigh and 508 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:52,360 measure things. We put them on scales. 509 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:53,960 We calculate it, we number it out. 510 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:59,560 But God measures like Mary with the alabaster box that's broken 511 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:04,680 and just lavishly poured out. You think about nature. 512 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:10,040 Just look around at nature. I mean, OK, do we need all the 513 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:14,280 stars of heaven? There's more than you can count. 514 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:18,960 Do we need all of them up there? Is that not extreme? 515 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,800 Is it not far more than what are necessary? 516 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:29,120 I mean, here we are on Earth, the planet Earth, and we have 517 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:32,480 human beings. Have they have the ability to 518 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:36,040 see the stars in heaven and yet we can't see all of them? 519 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:42,840 Does it not say to us that God is lavish and what he gives to 520 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:46,800 us? You know, you think about how 521 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,720 that the rain falls. It falls in the Sahara desert, 522 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:55,280 it falls on the granite stone. It, it falls on the new moon 523 00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:59,400 meadows, it falls on us. Rain falls where people don't 524 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:05,480 live. Is that a waste or does it not 525 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:07,920 express the lavishness of God's love? 526 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:15,160 The sun shines in the Sahara, but it also shines on us. 527 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:23,440 Is it not lavish in nature? People think nature's just kind 528 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:27,920 of a dead law, that it's just the laws of nature. 529 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,640 But I want to tell you, when you begin to see it, does it not 530 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,280 speak of the lavishness of God's love toward us? 531 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:38,480 Human beings are the only ones that have an appreciation of 532 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:40,880 beauty. Animals don't. 533 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,160 There's no no other creature on earth that has the appreciation 534 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:49,480 for beauty besides human beings. The heavens declare the glory of 535 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:51,400 God, the firm, it shows his handiwork. 536 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,040 Just think about this. The sun rises and the sunsets 537 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,920 and the the beautiful sunrise and the beautiful sunset that 538 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,760 people have never seen. Does that diminish its beauty? 539 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,360 It does not. Is it a waste? 540 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:09,800 Is it a waste that a beautiful sunset is where nobody sees it? 541 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,760 Is it a waste where there's a an awesome sunrise? 542 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:15,320 I haven't seen too many of those. 543 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,679 I prefer sunsets to sunrises. But I'm telling you, some of the 544 00:34:20,679 --> 00:34:24,360 sunrises just so amazing and so beauty. 545 00:34:24,679 --> 00:34:28,679 We, we live on the East Coast. The sunrises are more 546 00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:32,480 spectacular for us than the sunsets like they would on the 547 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:35,040 West Coast. But listen, is it a waste? 548 00:34:35,679 --> 00:34:39,560 Is it a waste? Is it a waste that there is 549 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:42,719 beauty in places where men's eyes have never seen? 550 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:45,920 Is it a waste? Or does it not say the 551 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,679 lavishness of God's love toward us? 552 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:53,960 Is it a waste? The depths of the ocean? 553 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:55,760 They're creatures that we've never seen. 554 00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:58,640 Some of them are pretty fascinating. 555 00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:01,760 Every once in a while they make a new discovery and they haul 556 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:04,560 something up from the bottom of the ocean and we haven't seen 557 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:06,760 this before. Well, who does see them? 558 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:10,280 God sees them. Does it not express to us the 559 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:12,480 lavishness of God's love? Is it a waste? 560 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,640 Is it a waste? Do we not see the love of God? 561 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:19,280 How about this in the Providence of God? 562 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:23,480 I believe in God's Providence. There are things that God does 563 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:28,000 at Jacob sat in his tent, he would have been glad to have 564 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:32,560 have his son Joseph come back even in tattered rags. 565 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:41,320 Years went by. When he finally does see Joseph, 566 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:43,800 he doesn't see somebody coming back in tattered rags. 567 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:46,800 What does he see? He sees a Prince in Egypt. 568 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:53,880 Was it a waste? No, his brother's meant it for 569 00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:56,880 evil, but God meant it for good. And God made something wonderful 570 00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,400 out of that. It's the Providence of God. 571 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,160 How about this, the prodigal son? 572 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:04,080 Father, give me what portion belongs to me. 573 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:06,160 And off he takes it. And he wasted and raised his 574 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:08,120 living. When he comes to himself. 575 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:10,160 We wanted to eat what pigs are eating. 576 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:12,240 He says I'll go back to my father's house. 577 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:15,640 I'll just be a servant. His father sees him a long way 578 00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:18,960 off, and runs and greets him, and says, put a robe on him, and 579 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:21,920 a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet, and prepare the 580 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:27,080 fatted calf. Was that not lavish love that a 581 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:30,240 father gave to a wayward son when he returned? 582 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,800 You think about this. For God so loved the world that 583 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,240 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 584 00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:41,360 should not perish, but have everlasting life. 585 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,560 I want to ask you something. Is the blood of Christ 586 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:47,200 sufficient to save anyone that will come? 587 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:51,040 Obviously it is for he said whosoever, Didn't he? 588 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,440 He said whosoever. Does that mean everybody's 589 00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:56,960 coming? Unfortunately, no. 590 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,800 We live on a planet. We live at a time where I guess 591 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:06,160 they're telling us that we're 8 billion plus souls. 592 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:11,560 Is the blood of Jesus Christ sufficient to save 8 billion 593 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,160 plus souls? And the answer to that question 594 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:18,240 is absolutely, will 8 billion souls be saved? 595 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:21,000 And the answer to that is unfortunately, no. 596 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:25,000 So is it is the blood of Christ, is it wasted? 597 00:37:26,720 --> 00:37:31,160 Is it a waste? Is it a waste that Jesus went to 598 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:34,960 the cross? I want to ask you this is is is 599 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:39,480 the grace of God that is bestowed upon us? 600 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:44,600 Is it a waste that God gives us more than we need? 601 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:53,750 Is it a waste multitudes will not bow? 602 00:37:55,510 --> 00:37:57,590 He died for all, but all will not come? 603 00:37:59,230 --> 00:38:02,710 Does it not express the lavishness of God's love? 604 00:38:04,390 --> 00:38:07,350 Does it not express the lavishness of God's love and the 605 00:38:07,350 --> 00:38:13,280 grace that he gives to men to be saved, but also the grace of God 606 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:18,760 that takes care of us? You know, it's not just the 607 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:23,240 grace that saves us, but Paul wrote to Titus and reminded him 608 00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:27,520 that it the same grace that saved us is also the same grace 609 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:30,400 that keeps us and carries us along day by day. 610 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:34,640 Can we ever exhaust the grace of God? 611 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:40,600 And I'm going to say to you, no deeper than the oceans, broader 612 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:46,840 than the oceans, greater than the universe, because it works 613 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,640 like this. Love never asks the question, 614 00:38:49,720 --> 00:38:53,000 how little can I give? Love asks the question, how 615 00:38:53,000 --> 00:39:00,000 much? As we've taken a look at it, the 616 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:05,320 lavishness of Mary. Mary demonstrated her love for 617 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:09,480 Jesus Christ. She was pretty bold in that, not 618 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:15,120 caring what culture thought. She didn't care what the other 619 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:18,200 apostles thought. She didn't care what the all of 620 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:19,800 them thought. What she cared about was what 621 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:24,520 did Jesus think? And she was willing to embarrass 622 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:28,360 herself. She was willing to act in what 623 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:33,200 they considered a shameful manner in order to demonstrate 624 00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:35,920 her great love for the Lord Jesus Christ. 625 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:38,920 Have you heard this morning? And you're a Christian, you're 626 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:41,920 saved, you're baptized, you're a member of Liberty Baptist 627 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,000 Church. Let me ask you this question. 628 00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:48,600 Is your love for the Lord lavish or is it just enough to get by? 629 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:58,960 Does it go to the extreme? Does it go to the extreme that 630 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:00,840 says I don't care what people think? 631 00:40:02,240 --> 00:40:05,640 I'm willing to be a broken alabaster box and just pour my 632 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:09,520 life out on the Lord. I'm willing for it to be 633 00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:17,720 excessive, so to speak, because I know what Jesus did for me. 634 00:40:19,240 --> 00:40:23,280 There was a day when I was dead in trespasses and sins, and He 635 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:27,960 gave me everlasting life. There are times I don't know how 636 00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:30,880 to walk through life and He carries me along. 637 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,800 I have this great hope that one day I have a home in heaven, 638 00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:38,200 that phase not away reserved for me. 639 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:42,200 And I'm very confident of this. I will not suffer the wrath of 640 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:44,840 God that is to come. I'm delivered from all that. 641 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:52,200 If He could lavish that kind of love on me, how much love can I 642 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:57,000 lavish on Him? How much love can I lavish on 643 00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,280 him? How much love can I lavish on 644 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,880 His church? Is it not Him? 645 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:07,080 It's His church. Is He not the head of it? 646 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:11,840 Revelation Chapter 2 and chapter 3 tells us this, that He holds 647 00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:15,600 them in His hand, they're His, that they're precious to Him. 648 00:41:16,240 --> 00:41:18,800 Are we not told in the scriptures how that He has 649 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:22,400 redeemed us with His very blood? That He that He we're bought 650 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:27,040 with the price? Can we not lavish our love on 651 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:36,360 Him who lavished His love on us? I've often been guilty of what 652 00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:39,840 I've mentioned a moment ago, that I I tend to give based upon 653 00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:42,480 what the need is rather than based on love. 654 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:54,880 My older days, younger days, my wife needed some money. 655 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:56,240 I would say, how much do you need? 656 00:41:56,240 --> 00:41:58,600 And I would try to give her the smallest amount possible. 657 00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:02,680 I need 20 bucks. Well, I got 15. 658 00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:07,000 Will you take that? You know what, today I try to do 659 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:08,880 this, say, do you need some money? 660 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:11,080 Yeah, I could probably use 20. Here's 40. 661 00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:14,680 I try to do that. I don't always get it done, but 662 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:18,400 I'm listen, I'm way down the road now from where I used to 663 00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:20,960 be. Here's 15 when she needed 20. 664 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:22,920 Why? Because I love her. 665 00:42:23,240 --> 00:42:25,600 She's been with me for close to 55 years now. 666 00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:28,600 I think it's about time that I wised up on some things. 667 00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:32,920 But you know, if I'm, if I, if I learned that about my wife, I've 668 00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:35,800 also learned that about the Lord and learned that about his 669 00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:39,920 church. But I I could never how, how can 670 00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:42,840 you give enough? How can you give enough? 671 00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:49,600 Is my love only measured by how little I can get by giving? 672 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:54,840 You know, for a lot of people it's a struggle to give 10%. 673 00:42:55,240 --> 00:42:58,720 I understand that. And if that's where you're just 674 00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:00,160 starting, you know, that's great. 675 00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:03,640 But God convicted me a long time ago. 676 00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:11,840 If I'm the ties that the scribes and the Pharisees did that, is 677 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:15,280 that how I want to measure my life by what they did? 678 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:19,600 Or do I want to measure my life by something else? 679 00:43:20,240 --> 00:43:24,840 How much I love the Lord? I love His church. 680 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:27,680 I love His word. Let me ask you this. 681 00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:31,880 Do you love lost souls? Do you love people? 682 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:36,000 Do you love them enough to go ahead and let you know? 683 00:43:36,240 --> 00:43:39,360 Let the world, the culture think that you know what they want to 684 00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:40,760 think about us. Let's get over the 685 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:43,200 embarrassment. Let's get over all that and tell 686 00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:48,760 people about our Savior who loved us extravagantly, who 687 00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:52,640 loved us lavishly. If you're here this morning and 688 00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:54,680 you've never been born again, you've never been saved. 689 00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:58,720 If you were to die today and you stood before God and God said, 690 00:43:58,720 --> 00:44:01,200 why should I let you into my heaven, what would you tell Him? 691 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:03,200 And you're thinking, well, I don't know. 692 00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:05,680 I've been a pretty good person, really. 693 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:13,480 I've done the best that I can. That may be acceptable for a lot 694 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:18,640 of things not acceptable to God. The only thing that's acceptable 695 00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:21,600 to God is the righteousness that's found in Jesus Christ. 696 00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:26,440 And the only way to get that is to bow before him and confess 697 00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:30,240 him as Lord and Savior. And he takes our sins. 698 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:34,400 They're on the Lord Jesus Christ as he went to the cross of 699 00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:37,360 Calvary. And God takes the righteousness 700 00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:39,720 that's in Jesus Christ and he gives it to me. 701 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:43,080 If you see, when I stand before God, I'm not going to tell God I 702 00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:44,640 was a preacher. I was a good person. 703 00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:47,120 I did the best I can. I'm going to tell him this. 704 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:49,720 My sins have been washed away and I've been given the 705 00:44:49,720 --> 00:44:53,800 righteousness of Jesus Christ. I don't stand before you on my 706 00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:56,000 own merits. I stand before you on His. 707 00:44:56,760 --> 00:45:03,240 I am accepted as the Beloved. If He lavish that much love on 708 00:45:03,240 --> 00:45:05,960 me, can I not lavish some love on Him? 709 00:45:06,720 --> 00:45:09,360 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 710 00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:12,320 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 711 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:15,800 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 712 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:20,400 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 713 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:25,200 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 714 00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:28,040 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 715 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:29,240 grow in His Word.