[0:00] If you would turn with me to Matthew chapter 26. We're in a very exciting story today in Matthew chapter 26. As you read about a lady, Jesus is about to die.
[0:11] He's finished talking, preaching for the last two chapters. He's been telling them all about how it's going to be at the end and when he comes back and when he sets up his kingdom. And he's gone through that and he finishes talking in chapter 26.
[0:24] And he tells the guys, look, fellas, in two days is the day of the Passover and I'll be going there and be betrayed and crucified. And all of a sudden this lady comes walking into the room.
[0:36] She has this alabaster box, very precious box made of a fine stone there. And inside there's this ointment that's really precious, expensive ointment.
[0:47] And she breaks that box and pours that ointment on his head. And as soon as she does, the apostles begin to talk and they say, I cannot believe this. The disciples are, what in the world?
[0:58] What a waste of money. That money could have been used to go and pay for some poor people. It was worth about a year's minimum wage. It was enough money to have fed the 5,000 probably.
[1:10] In their mind, they'd guess it would be 200 denarii or 200 pennies. And that would be, this was worth like 300. So it's a lot of money in that little jar. And so it's all of a sudden, what a waste.
[1:21] So we're going to look at worship as waste. Wasteful worship this morning. Because that's what people think. You know, they're driving down the road. They look over here. And here we are in a warehouse. And you pulled up in your nice car.
[1:33] And you got out of your car. And you came into church. And you walked in here. And they're like, what in the world are them people doing? What a waste of life. They go in there. And they give money. And they send money to missionaries around the world.
[1:45] And then they had their little Sunday school class. Ooh, they're so cute. And they talk about us. And they laugh about us. And it's all so funny to them. And their thoughts are, what a waste. A waste of talent.
[1:55] A waste of time. A waste of treasure. A waste of life. And that's how they look at it. So we're going to look at what the Bible says here in the story. And I hope when you go home, you'll realize you're not wasting your life.
[2:06] You're serving Jesus. And they're going to call it a waste. And that's their business. But they're wrong. And someday they'll realize they wasted their life on trinkets that had no real value. And you're investing your life in the cause of Christ.
[2:18] Read with me, if you would, chapter 26, verses 1 and 2 again. The Bible says that it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these sayings. He said unto his disciples, You know that after two days of the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.
[2:35] Now, I want you to write this down somewhere. And you need to remember this all your life. Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen. Jesus knew that he was going to die.
[2:46] Jesus had planned to die. Look, if you would, in verse 2, right there in front of you, you know that after two days of the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man, that's me, that's Jesus talking. He said, that's me.
[2:57] He will be betrayed, and he will be crucified. He knew what was going on. He has finished explaining. In verse 1, it says at the end of verse 1, it says he had finished all these sayings.
[3:10] He's just finished Matthew 24 and 25, which is a collection of his sermons and thoughts that he had given to them. Matthew's put it all together for us to look at here, and he just finished them. Look, if you would, at chapter 24 and verse 3, back where we started there.
[3:22] It said, as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came in him privately, saying, tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and the end of the world. So they had had two chapters of discussing these things, and now they have finished the discussion.
[3:38] And so Jesus lets them know that one day he will return and set up an earthly kingdom. Look, if you would, at 2531. In 2531, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and the holy angels with him, then shall he set up on the throne of his glory.
[3:54] There's coming a day when Jesus, this lowly carpenter's son, this guy who came and died on the cross, will be coming back, and he will set on the throne of David, and he will reign in great glory that day's coming.
[4:06] And he'll set up a thousand-year reign, and he'll be a judge that even decides who gets to go into the kingdom, those that are coming out of the tribulation period. And that's what we just looked at the last chapter, those who, by faith in God, had treated those Jews, the brethren of Jesus, with respect, and tried to help them.
[4:23] They showed their faith. They'll be going in. The ones that lived a selfish life won't be going there. And then they will go into everlasting punishment. You need to get that verse really clear in your mind.
[4:33] Chapter 24, verse 41, if you would. Chapter 25, verse 41. The Bible says, Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
[4:49] You got your Bible open there? I need you to look at that. It is fire. That's what the Bible says, as clear as day, that there is this lake of fire where lost people will be put forever and ever. And then they'll get it.
[4:59] I want you to circle that word everlasting. That's not such a hard word to understand. It means everlasting. It means forever lasting. It means going on without end.
[5:10] It means they'll never come to a place where those people won't be suffering. Everlasting fire. But look at the verse also. How many people, who was that place prepared for? It was prepared for who?
[5:22] Say it out loud with me. Prepared for the devil and his angels. Was that prepared for you? No, it wasn't. Was that prepared for anybody else on the planet? No, it wasn't. It was prepared for the devil and his angels.
[5:34] But when you die without Christ, you will go to an eternal, everlasting place of torment and suffering. Understand there's no purgatory.
[5:45] There's not one mention of, well, when you die, you can go somewhere and you can suffer a little while and everything will get fixed and you'll get out and you can go into heaven. Not mentioned. Not mentioned. You are the curse. You didn't believe. You're going to go to this place of everlasting fire.
[5:58] Look at verse 46. Verse 46. Chapter 25. Verse 46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment. It is a forever lasting punishment.
[6:10] Now, you need to listen closely because this is not a game and this isn't religious rhetoric. There is a heaven and there is a hell. There is eternal life and there is eternal death.
[6:21] There is a place of everlasting pleasure and a place of everlasting punishment. And you decide if you will trust Jesus and what he did on the cross of Calvary or not.
[6:32] And I want you to understand very clearly, I'm not talking Baptist talk here. You got a Bible in front of you. I didn't write it. I didn't translate it. And I didn't put the one in your hands and you can read it and you'll clearly see everlasting punishment.
[6:44] And then you'll also see the righteous life eternal. That's everlasting life. Eternal life. So Jesus said, Guys, I am God.
[6:56] I can tell you everything's going to happen. The future's not a mystery to me. It's not like God's up in heaven and said, I just don't know how this thing's going to work out. He's up in heaven and said, I know exactly how it's going to work out. He knows everything.
[7:08] And he says to you, Hey, you'll trust me and believe me or you're going to this everlasting punishment. So Jesus had told him in Matthew 24 and 25, I'll be coming back, but it'll be unannounced.
[7:19] You won't know when he's coming. Biblically, he could come back today before you get home. Today. Today he could come and take all of the believers home. That is as clear in the Bible as anything can be.
[7:31] And when he comes back, he will deal with us about our opportunities and our abilities and how we use them. There will be a judgment. There will be a judgment. And some will get rewarded.
[7:43] And some will get punishment. He tells his disciples in this passage, I'm about to be betrayed and crucified. Look if you would at verse 2, 26, 2 in your Bible.
[7:54] He knows that he's about to be betrayed and he's about to be crucified. The Bible says in 26, 2, you know that after two days of the Passover, comma, well, maybe you don't know this, the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.
[8:09] He's going to be betrayed and he's going to be crucified. Look at me and listen real closely. When I tell you this, you've got to understand Jesus came to die. You've got to understand Jesus came to die.
[8:22] That's why he came to the earth. He came to die on the cross of Calvary. Nothing surprised him. And by the way, no one kills Jesus actually.
[8:32] They're plotting to kill him, but he could have easily escaped. He had escaped over the last three and a half years. More than one time when they were ready to get him, he walked away. But when it was the time, according to the plan, according to what the Father wanted, he laid down his life on his own.
[8:47] You need to understand, Jesus died on purpose for you. Jesus died on purpose for you. Now that's important. Now listen to me real quick. I went to a college that kind of doubted everything God said.
[8:59] So let me just tell you something so you get it straight into your mind. We didn't develop the doctrine of salvation after he died accidentally. It isn't like Jesus was walking down the road just a nice guy working miracles to take care of people.
[9:11] And the big bullies beat him up and all of a sudden the apostle said, get back in the back room. Let's come up with plan B. Jesus died. We didn't know that was going to happen. He ain't dead yet. He's already writing it down.
[9:22] I know I'm fixing to die. In two days, the Passover, and I'll be betrayed. John 5, 17 says, Therefore, doth my father, that's not right. Should be John 10, 17.
[9:32] Check it out and see if I'm right there. Therefore, doth my father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself.
[9:44] I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again. This is the commandment I received of my father. Now listen to me. Look just, wait just a second. On Calvary, do you know what happened? The creator God, the almighty God, the sinless, perfect son of God who could walk on water, raise the dead, feed 5,000 people, he who had the power to do anything in the world, walked up there and allowed men to nail him to a cross.
[10:09] He allowed that to happen. He lay down his life. You are that important to him. On purpose, he died. On purpose, he died so that we can be saved.
[10:21] Now I want you to go back, if you would, to Matthew 26 and verse 2. Another word, key word to the passage that's going on. It says, you know that after two days is the feast of the Passover and the Son of Man is to be betrayed and to be crucified.
[10:35] I just want you to circle the word Passover. As an American, you read that and you're like, what in the world is a Passover? It's like a football term somebody doesn't understand. It's like a sports term. It's like a medical term.
[10:46] We're like, I heard the word, I understand the word, but I don't know what it means. That word Passover was a very common word for all of them. These are Jewish people and they're very accustomed to the word Passover.
[10:57] So let me kind of remind you what the Passover is. The Passover, the feast of the Passover was to remember what God had done in Egypt. To remember what God had done in Egypt. All the firstborn.
[11:08] You see, God was working these plagues to get the children of Israel out of Egypt. So he's going to work ten plagues. And plague number ten, all the firstborn in Egypt would die. All the firstborn would die.
[11:20] I've been the firstborn son. I've also been the firstborn of the animals. Everybody was going to die. But God told his people, I have a plan to save your family. And here will be the plan. We will let a substitute die in your home.
[11:33] That's a big word. You should write that word down somewhere. We'll talk a little bit more about it. A substitute. And so the lamb, they were told all about how to get the lamb ready. They were told about how to kill the lamb. They were told about how to eat the lamb.
[11:44] And that lamb would die and the blood would be placed on the post and the column above the post of the house. And so when the death angel would come, he would come over every house.
[11:54] And as he did, people started dying. Every home screaming and weeping and wailing because they walk in their firstborn son's dead. But when the death angel got to a believer's home, he saw the blood and he passed over that home and went to the next home.
[12:08] That's why it was called Passover. The Passover was about, the Passover was about a lamb taking the place of their firstborn. It was the blood on the door that the death angel would see and pass over.
[12:22] So it's called Passover because death passed over. If you can imagine being in the city of Cairo and you can imagine the death angel starting there and every time he hit a house, all the firstborn are dying.
[12:33] Every family's weeping and wailing and gnashing teeth and all of you, you don't believe and you haven't put any blood and the death angel's coming and it's like a wave of screaming and crying because their firstborn's just dropping dead, they're dying.
[12:44] And they got to this section and these people, they put the blood on there. They believed the warning. They put the blood on and the angel passed all the way over everyone who believed and went on killing on the other side.
[12:56] Death had come and the lamb that was slain had taken their place. That is the perfect picture of what Jesus is going to do in the rest of the book of Matthew.
[13:06] He will die in our place. You should write that down somewhere. Substitute. Substitutionary death. He dies in our place.
[13:18] He is our substitute. And I'm going to show you just a second, a little bit more about that. But look, can I remind you what the Bible says? For the wages of sin is death. That's what you've got coming.
[13:29] How many of you in this room have sinned? Hold your hand up. If you've ever sinned, well, you've got to die. The wages of your sin is death, but the gift of God is what? Eternal life through Jesus Christ.
[13:41] He's the lamb. He paid the sin debt. He's the way we can go to heaven. He's the one that took our punishment for us. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, John the Baptist is down the river baptizing, and all of a sudden, Jesus comes across the top of the hill.
[13:57] And in John chapter 1 and verse 29, John the Baptist points, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. He saw him. They called him something very interesting.
[14:07] He called him the Lamb of God. And we hear that. We're like, Why in the world would you call a man a lamb? Why in the world would you call a man a lamb? Don't even make a bit of sense. Unless you're playing football, then you can be a ram or a falcon or any other thing.
[14:19] But Jesus is all of a sudden the Lamb of God. And what was that about? I'll tell you what it's about. The whole Old Testament was about every time a person sinned, every time a person failed God, a substitute died.
[14:32] If you were a believer, you had a way for your sins to be paid for, but it would be the death of a substitute, a death of an animal, that Jesus was represented in that happening.
[14:43] From the first story of sin in the Bible, it was the death of a substitute. Do you remember Adam and Eve? Do you remember Adam and Eve? There Adam and Eve are in the garden. They sin.
[14:53] All of a sudden they realize they're naked. All of a sudden they're ashamed and embarrassed. And they go all alone and they make fig leaves to cover themselves up. They know they're about to die. They know that in the day they eat that fruit that they're going to die.
[15:04] And the Lord comes along and says, you know what? You're not going to die. I'm going to give you life. He changes his wife's name from woman to Eve. She's the mother of all living, but he covers them with coats of skin. An animal died.
[15:16] And their sins were covered. So it's a story through the whole Bible. When God wanted to reveal his plan of salvation, his plan of redemption, he started all the way back in Genesis showing us, you failed, you deserve to die, you have wages coming, but God has a plan.
[15:34] To rescue you. God has a plan to rescue you. In Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 4, that is explained in pretty good detail.
[15:45] It says, Surely he hath borne our sorrows and carried our grief, borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. We did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. If you got your Bible open to Isaiah chapter 53 verse 4, which I hope you do, I want you to underline borne our griefs.
[16:00] He carried them. He put them on his shoulders, and he carried our griefs, and he carried our sorrows. That's what it says. Look at verse 5, if you would. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
[16:13] The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes, we're healed. I want you to underline this. When Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, it was for my transgressions.
[16:25] It was for my iniquities. It was for my peace. He was taking my place. He was making a way for me. Verse 6, All we like sheep have gone astray.
[16:36] We've all done whatever we want to do. We've turned our own way. We've got our own opinions. We've turned, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. God placed the iniquity on Jesus.
[16:46] Jesus. God placed the iniquity on Jesus. I understand some things. From Matthew 26, 1 and 2, Jesus knows that he's going to die. Let that sink in a second.
[17:00] He knows he's going to die. He plans to die. It is intentional that he will die. You may have watched an Easter program and think that's not the way it really worked, but the Bible says he came planning to die.
[17:12] He was God in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The entire story of the Bible is about Jesus dying. Without his death, there would be no salvation.
[17:27] Even if you believe that you could protect your family from the angel of death, you would have died. You see, maybe there was some guy over in Israel when the Passover was going to happen, and he stood at his door and said, Death angel, you'll not get in my house.
[17:38] Death angel is like, who do you think you are, puny human? Boom. And their child would die. It wasn't about if they were a good family. It wasn't about how much stuff they had in their house. It wasn't about whether or not they held their tongue right when they painted the blood on the doorpost.
[17:50] There was one thing in question. Do you believe, if you believe, put the blood on the doorpost, that I will pass over. That's how salvation works. It doesn't work because you change your lifestyle.
[18:02] It doesn't work because you quit doing what you used to do. It doesn't work because you clean up your act. It works because you come knowing you deserve to die, but Jesus paid your sin debt.
[18:13] That's how salvation works. So in chapter 26, verses 1 and 2, he said, hey, I've come to die and pay the price. Second thing, would you go with me to 26.3? Matthew 26.3.
[18:24] The religious crowd plots to kill Jesus. So basically, from verse 3 down to verse 5, this is what happens. All the big shots get together at Caiaphas' palace.
[18:35] And while they're there, they begin talking about how they're going to have to deceitfully take Jesus and kill him. They're going to have to figure out a plan to turn the hearts of all the people against Jesus so they can kill him.
[18:46] And then they realize it's about to be a feast day. And if it's a feast day, a big celebration, like a holiday, in other words. It's a big holiday. And if they kill him on a holiday, people are going to get upset. So they're trying to figure out how they can do it without causing too much trouble.
[18:59] The most important people in Israel are there together plotting his death. They want to kill him and they want to kill him deceitfully. They have no reason except this. Their wicked hearts rejected Jesus.
[19:10] And they rejected the Father. And they rejected the plan of salvation. By the way, if you go to hell, that's exactly the reason it's going to happen. Because clearly today, I'm telling you what the Bible says and clearly the Holy Spirit is saying to you today, you have sinned against the Holy God and you deserve to go to hell.
[19:25] And you can sit there and say, I won't listen to that. Well, that's your business. I won't accept that. I won't believe that. Well, that's your business. But it'll be you rejected. That's why they want to kill Jesus. They decide to kill him in a way they won't get the people too upset.
[19:38] There are like two million Jews in the city right now. And the majority of them know Jesus. They've heard about him. They like him. They know that he's been doing good stuff. So how can we turn their hearts against Jesus?
[19:50] They wanted to end Jesus and his ministry. But what they really did was carry out God's will. And Jesus died for men to be saved. There would have been no need for Jesus to die if we could have saved ourselves.
[20:02] Now you need to listen to this just a second. Okay? Everybody catch this. So many of you kind of got this idea that it's what you do. You think you've got to do certain things to get saved and then you've got to do certain things to keep saved.
[20:13] You kind of got the idea, I've got to quit smoking, dancing, chewing, and going, then to do, and then God will save me. Or you think, I got saved and now I've got to quit smoking, dancing, chewing, and going, then to do, to stay saved. That's not the story.
[20:24] He wouldn't have died if you could have done it. He wouldn't have died if there was anything you could have done to go to heaven. There's not one checklist up in heaven saying he believed and he was baptized and he this and he this and so he got 100.
[20:36] He could come to heaven. That's how that works. You could have 99 points out of 100 and go to hell because there's only one thing on the checklist to go to heaven. Did you believe Jesus? Did you believe what he did on the cross of Calvary so you could be saved?
[20:50] It's Jesus. We don't do anything to get saved and we don't do anything to stay saved. We're saved by purely believing what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary. Now go with me to verse 6.
[21:02] You're in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 6 and they're going to prepare Jesus' body for burial. So let me tell you the story. From verse 6 down to verse 12, this is basically what happens.
[21:14] They're in the home of Simon the leper. Now you can obviously understand Simon's been healed. He's known as a leper because he's been a leper for a long time. But the truth is everywhere Jesus goes he just heals everybody so old Simon's in good shape.
[21:24] And Simon's like hey let Jesus come on over to the house. I love that guy. I was lost and undone. I was a mess. I was a leper. I was an outcast. Nobody had anything to do with me and Jesus came along and saved me so they're at the house.
[21:36] And Jesus just got through making a statement. You can hear this lady. She's kind of back in the corner. I don't know. She's fixing him a sandwich or something and Jesus said hey guys two days Passover I'll be betrayed and crucified.
[21:48] And so she's like man something's got to be done. And so she goes and gets her precious box of ointment. She comes in and pours it on his head while he's sitting there eating. And all of a sudden the disciples go what in the world lady?
[22:02] That's a lot of ointment. That's a lot of money. What are you doing? What are you pouring so much on his head for? We could have sold that and given it to the poor. We could have done something good with that. Now listen you got to get the story.
[22:14] Jesus just looked at him and said guys in two days Passover's coming I'm going to be betrayed and crucified. And the apostles are going well we need to figure out how much the budget is going to work at the church.
[22:29] What great deacons amen? Can't you see the treasurer and the deacons and all the you know I mean we got the disciples there and Jesus is going what?
[22:41] He said this lady has done something very special. She's anointing my body for burial. Say he didn't say that. Look at your Bible if you would and see what she said in verse 12 chapter 26 in verse 12 for in that she poured the sointment on my body she did it for my burial.
[22:58] I can imagine all of a sudden was that joke inappropriate? Did I say something I shouldn't say at the wrong time did I say something I shouldn't have? Yeah you did. You're getting upset about 300 pence so you're getting upset about some ointment and Jesus is going to die so all of a sudden everybody's probably dead quiet because he said he just started off the conversation saying in two days Passover betrayal crucified lady pours the stuff on his head and all of a sudden everybody's like I can't believe you did that blah blah blah blah it's a men's division and everybody's up in arms over the money and Jesus goes it's okay guys she did that so when I'm buried I'm already anointed so the real question that came up was as she was preparing them because he had announced he was preparing his body he had announced he was going to be betrayed and crucified and she poured it on it was expensive in verse 7 the Bible said it was very precious ointment that means it was very expensive ointment she broke the box to get the ointments out verse 9 says it could have been sold for much and given to the poor
[24:03] Jesus accepts her offering realizing she knew what was happening sometimes I think us men are kind of dumb like that we're so busy focused on our goals and the lady standing over in the corner goes I heard I know what's happening all the guys I'm in there with them saying well wait a minute we're building a new building now we could have sold that and had some money for the Nehemiah project I mean I can see me right there in that conversation can't you just be honest and there's a lady standing over in the corner and said I don't think y'all heard what he said I think you're too focused on your own plans to pay attention to what he said he said he's going to be betrayed and he's going to be crucified so I thought I'd just go ahead I won't ever have another chance to do something like this he's about to die and he announced it she loved him and she worshipped him her love was extravagant it was apparently worth about a year's minimum wage what she poured on his head but love doesn't calculate real love isn't looking for a reasonable way to give real love has no upper limits real love wants to give even more and she was expressing her love for Jesus and his ministry
[25:11] I don't know if you've ever been there if you've ever had a family member going in for some life threatening surgery or something in the hospital you know what the first thing you think you don't really pull out your calculator and say now wait a minute I won't be able to go on vacation if you how much this operation is going to cost let me see how it's going to affect my budget love says throw the budget out the door love says whatever it takes whatever it costs whatever that's how she felt she was extravagantly loving him love made her lose her common sense the disciples it was mainly Judas everybody else is just kind of saying amen we know that from other passages of scripture they were thinking about the value of the gift before giving there might have been better ways to spend the money rather than wasting it on Jesus but a gift that has no sacrifice isn't really a gift is it it's a gift because we're doing more than we can afford she sees the opportunity he's dying two days he's here I can and she poured it on his head and Jesus said this will never be forgotten there's going to be a lot of terrible things happen between now and into this book till he arises again there'll be a lot of terrible things happen we're going to watch him with gaping holes in his face as they pluck his beard from him we're going to watch him as literally his intestines are probably hanging out of his body as he's whipped we're going to watch him as he climbs a hill blood dripping everywhere king or cross on the way to be crucified most everything is going to be a pretty horrible gory picture for the rest of
[26:39] Matthew that's what we're going to be watching but for one brief second we get a glimpse of tremendous love this lady felt for him in verse 13 chapter 26 he said verily I say unto you wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world there also shall this story be told y'all don't ever forget what she did today we'll forget you big mouth Judas we'll forget all the men arguing and bickering about how much money it was but let's remember this a woman loved Jesus today a woman loved Jesus today and she didn't care what it cost she didn't care what happened so the real question is how wasteful is worship when you read the passage of scripture you got to be thinking how wasteful is worship because that's what happened she came out with the most expensive thing she had and she poured that on his head their focus is on their current ministry and what they're doing they're not paying attention to Jesus I've been that way sometimes I've been actually listening to somebody while they were talking I really wasn't paying attention I was thinking about either what I wanted to say or what I was going to do next just keep talking and I'll act like I'm listening but I wasn't paying attention you you've never done that but that's what the guys were doing that's what the guys were doing but the lady hears and says and she comes worshiping and she brings her alabaster box in verse seven and verse eight they said what purpose is this waste why are you wasting so much it could have been sold for so much so can I just remind you this morning that the whole world's looking at you kind of like
[28:01] Judas and the disciples looked at that lady and they're saying that worshiping God's a waste of time and I'm looking at a bunch of people that they would say are wasting their lives because worshiping God's a waste of time the idea that you should pray and read your Bible every day the idea that you come to one service a week much less three services in Sunday school that you spend so much time serving other people they got to think man those Christians are nuts if you're going to have Christianity go once a year go to Easter and Christmas if you're going to be a Christian go every now and then but don't let it consume your time worshiping seems like a waste of money we give sacrificially starting with a tithe then we give extra to all these ministries we send missionaries all around the world what a waste of time what a waste of treasure then we waste our talents I think we we could be making more money we could be having more fun we could be doing things that people that don't love God believe are so important we're so crazy we even give our children to be missionaries to take the gospel around the world our worship makes us make decisions based on pleasing God and not on ourselves everyone can think of better ways to spend their life than God church and the Bible but you poor people you've kind of made a decision hadn't you you've said you might call it waste but I call it worship you might call it a waste but I'll give my money and I'll give it gladly some would even think family is more important than the things of God but we look at Matthew 633 seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness and all these things shall be added we want what we count as valuable if we're lost but as
[29:36] Christians we want what he counts as valuable some would even use Jesus as a means to get what they want but we're just here because he wants us to be here giving Jesus means giving Jesus true worship in first place seems like risking your life to so many but to us it is life that we would give our lives to Jesus I'll tell you what I think really wasting your life is wasting your life would be not spending time in the word of God letting doubtful thoughts take over your mind not realizing that God has big plans for you not spending time with people that would motivate you and challenge you to serve God and strengthen your walk not using your resources being afraid to step out of your comfort zone so this day in the story if you read it there's a woman and she says I heard him say he's gonna die can you see her running back in that room where she's got the most precious thing she has her box of precious ointment it's a box an alabaster box full of precious ointment it's worth a year's pay I mean it's worth three thousand but what is it to thirty thousand dollars I mean it's a it's a with minimum wage it's a lot of stinking money twenty five thousand she goes in and she gets it and she comes back in and she looks at him I don't know if tears in her eyes
[30:46] I don't know what she's feeling in her heart but she walks over to him and she destroys everything she has and she pours it on his head and when she does all of a sudden the chatter starts in the room what a waste woman what a waste we could have used that money to do much more in the ministry than what that why are you putting that on Jesus's head it'll be gold when he takes a shower what a waste and Jesus stops him and says boys I don't think you've been paying attention I said in two days the Passover is coming and I'll be betrayed and crucified she did that to get me ready to be buried because you look at me and you think everything's okay but I'll be dead in just a handful of days and she knew that now you're here today and I would just like to remind you that everybody looks at you thinks everything you do is a waste you take time in your day and you get up in the morning and you spend a little bit of time and you spend some time reading the Bible and they think what a waste and then you even go on something crazy like a vacation and you want to go to church because you're like I like Jesus I like church I like other
[31:47] Christians I think I'll just go to a church today everybody's like what in the world would you ever even do that for and they look at you and and they say you give so much money look at what you could have your tithe would be you could have a boat and a and a recreational camper I mean good now you could do all right with your tithe what are you doing what a waste what a waste what a waste but you see much more there than the than Judas and the disciples you realize he is worth it he is worth it he is worthy of your time he's worthy of your treasure he's worthy of your talents he's worthy of you giving your children to him he's worthy of you giving your life to him and by the way all will recognize that that's true when it's over last verse for the day going to chapter 26 and verse 13 there's a two fold promise here very last saying to you wheresoever this gospel shall be preached and the whole world there shall also this well that this woman had done be told a memorial of her that's a pretty small investment a year's money to 2,000 years later we're all sitting here going there was this woman one day who loved Jesus so much she did something foolish in 2,000 years we're talking about that in the United States and they're talking about that in
[33:07] Russia and China and Africa and improve I've heard this story preached everywhere I've ever been it's a beautiful story he said it'll never be forgotten y'all just remember the woman that loved me y'all just remember the woman that loved me so these little things you're doing he's saying I'll remember them he knows what you gave today was a struggle for you he knows that you this week sought him out in prayer and Bible study and nobody else knows all the serving you're doing for him but he knows and he said I'll keep records don't worry I know there's one other great promise in the verse and that is the gospel shall be preached in the whole world now here he is I want you to understand the picture he's only got a handful of followers in fact there's only be 120 of them in the upper room and it's just about 50 days from now 40 days from now 50 days only be about 120 in the upper room and they'll count women for the first time they've ever counted women but he looks at him and says now my story is gonna be told in the whole world and when they do don't forget the lady's story it's two things don't forget the lady's story but then how about this one a struggling little group of Jews in the city of Jerusalem their leaders dying and instead of thinking like well boys this is Butch
[34:17] Cassidy and a Sundance kid it's over we lost he's like this gospel is going everywhere boys it's going all over the world everybody's gonna be hearing about what I'm doing everybody's gonna be even hearing what that lady did I just want you to know you got a promise this good news you know they've tried to stomp it out they've passed laws in countries that made it illegal to be a Christian and Christianity keeps on flourishing they've they've they've killed our preachers burned our Bibles destroyed our churches but the gospel of Jesus Christ keeps marching on because the great God of heaven said this gospel will be preached in the whole world today you're joined up here and maybe it looks like a waste but I can promise you this no other little club got started 2,000 years ago it's still going with the power this one is that one little group of men changed history but it wasn't them that changed it was the gospel of Jesus Christ and today I'm a part of that so I gave this morning because I'm a part of that and I'll pray and I'll share the gospel I'll tell others about Jesus because I'm a part of something much bigger I'm a part of what Jesus is doing around the world just Hebrews 2a
[35:22] Godstop I'm a part of that and I'll see you through a Sena trajectory in 2021 who's being quite露 сделать countless stories about how he is challenged e- Are we going to get done what Jesus is saying and how he is going to get done and we're going to take care of and why don't you Hello toально and tell us about Jesus how we are getting done been gathered and Jules about Jesus how we are being celebrated as he played