[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is the next message in our series on the book of John, entitled, Jesus is God.
[0:16] John chapter number 12. If you would open your Bibles to John 12. We're going to start reading in verse number 1. Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
[0:31] There they made him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment, of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair.
[0:44] And the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor?
[0:55] This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, let her alone. Against the day of my burying has she kept this.
[1:06] For the poor always ye have with you, but me ye have not always. Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.
[1:20] Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, I thank you for this day. Lord, I thank you for bringing us into your house tonight. Lord God, I pray that you would work in this service.
[1:32] Lord God, I pray that you might fill me with your spirit. I pray that you might use this message in our hearts and in our lives. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Here in this story, we have Jesus.
[1:44] He comes to the city of Bethany. And it's just a little while, I'm not sure of the exact period of time, but after he had raised Lazarus from the dead. He had come four days after Lazarus was dead, and he rose him from the grave.
[1:55] And now Jesus has come back to Bethany. And in the house of Simon the leper, according to Mark, we find that he's in the house of Simon the leper, and they've thrown this feast for him. They've thrown this feast for Jesus.
[2:06] And at this feast, you have him laying down, and he's eating the meat, the Bible says. And there, across the table, you have Lazarus. Lazarus, the one who was dead, is now sitting in front of Jesus, and he's listening to him and paying attention to him.
[2:19] And then there's Martha. And you see Martha walking about, as she always does, serving. And she's serving food. She's serving all these things. And then, as all of this is going on, you have the twelve disciples, if you can imagine it in your mind.
[2:31] You see all the disciples are all standing around him. And then you see, all of a sudden, Mary walks into this room. And in Mary's hand, there's this box. And everybody would have known what the box was, because it would have been a common item.
[2:44] And in the box, they call it an alabaster box, because it was full of this ointment. And the ointment cost 300 pence, as the passage says. And in those days, one penny, or one pence, was one person's wage for an entire day.
[2:57] And as I figured it out for myself, I make about $80 a day. So it would have been about $24,000 that she spent on this box of ointment, put in my terms.
[3:08] Anyways, and then she had spent all this money, and it would have been a huge offering. More than a year's wages was put into this box. And she took this box, and she walks up to Jesus behind him.
[3:20] And she breaks the box over his head, and then pours it on both of his head and his feet. And she falls down before him, weeping, the Bible says. And she wipes his hair, his feet, with her hair, which the Bible calls her glory.
[3:35] And as she is doing all of this, you have across the room, if you can imagine Judas sitting there. And all of a sudden, he says, why did you do this? This is such a waste. You could have sold that for 300 pence, and I would have given it to the poor.
[3:48] And we know Judas was a thief. And as he had just said this, then Jesus responds with, leave her alone. And in this story, we're going to find a few truths of how we can worship our Savior.
[4:02] There are a few things we can learn about worship. The first thing I'd like to share with you is Lazarus, how Lazarus worships. Lazarus, if you remember, he was dead. And he's now brought back to life.
[4:14] And as he has his life again, he's sitting there at the table. And what is he doing? He could have been elsewhere. He could have been busy. I'm sure that he had things to do with his life. But instead of doing everything else, he's sitting in front of Jesus, and he's listening to him.
[4:29] He's eating with him, and he's listening to him. Lazarus is sitting there, and he's worshiping him. He's listening to Christ. If you today, if you died, and then Jesus walked in, and he rose you from the grave, what do you think you would do?
[4:42] Would you sit at Jesus' feet, and would you pay attention to what he had to say? Well, the truth is, according to Romans chapter 6, verses 3 and 4, which say, Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized in Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
[4:56] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so also we also should walk in the newness of life.
[5:07] If you're saved tonight, you were dead. The Bible says in Ephesians, you were dead in your sin. You were dead and on your way to hell. And today, if you're saved, God has saved you. He has given you new life.
[5:19] And are you spending time with him? Do you spend time with him in Bible reading, in Bible study, and in prayer? Are we coming to church and worshiping him? If Christ has raised you from the dead and it was physical, we would have spent time with him.
[5:32] But because it's spiritual, do we spend time with our Savior? The second thing I would like for you to see is Martha in this passage. In verse number 2, you find that Martha is serving.
[5:44] If you look back in Luke chapter number 10 and verse 40, you find that she was also serving then. It was her way, it was her what she did. She was serving, a servant of people.
[5:55] But here in this passage, unlike Luke chapter 10, where she had bickered and said, Lord, why won't you let my sister come help me? Why is she okay to sit at your feet? Why doesn't she help me? Instead of doing that, she's not even in her own house.
[6:08] She's in the house of Simon the leper. And instead of not doing anything and just sitting there, she's serving Christ. And her form of worship was serving her Savior. In a house that wasn't even her own.
[6:21] She had just witnessed the raising of her brother. And yes, she serves Christ. What are you doing that is worship? Are you serving in His church?
[6:32] And what ministries would you be involved in? How are you serving Christ? And another person I would like for you to see, and this is probably my favorite person in this passage outside of Jesus Christ, is Mary.
[6:45] And you remember how Mary walks in the room and she gives. And she gives that great gift. And the Bible says in Mark 14, 8, that she gave what she could.
[6:55] This is what she had. She was giving to Christ what she had. But before she could give to Christ, there's something she had to know. And I would love for you to see this in verse number, in two previous passages.
[7:11] Mary knew Jesus Christ. Her coming to Him and throwing this ointment on His feet wasn't based on, it wasn't a stranger. It wasn't someone that she didn't know.
[7:21] It wasn't someone she hadn't walked with. It wasn't someone whose feet she hadn't sat at and listened to. But Mary had come before her Savior, Jesus Christ, and she had knelt before Him. In Luke chapter 10 and verse 39, we find, and she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet.
[7:40] Martha had gotten mad because Mary would just sit there and listen to Christ. And Jesus had told Martha that Mary was doing the better deed. And here we find Mary again at the feet of Jesus.
[7:51] But it wasn't the first time there. She had been there before. She had worshipped Christ before. She had listened to Him before. And what she did now and the belief that she had came because she knew Jesus Christ.
[8:02] She had seen Him raise Lazarus from the dead, so she knew how powerful He was. She had heard of His miracles. She knew and believed that He was going to die. In verse number 7, the Bible says, Let her alone against the day of my burying, as she kept this.
[8:17] She kept the ointment against the day of Jesus Christ's burying. She is preparing Jesus Christ for His burial. It's her act of belief. Have you seen Jesus do great works?
[8:31] Have you seen His saving power? She didn't just know Jesus Christ, but this knowing of Jesus Christ and how much He knew Him cost her to show her great act of love.
[8:42] She falls down before Him with this great act of love. And she's offering a gift that's worth a year's wages. She takes a gift that's worth an entire year's worth of work.
[8:56] She had worked hard and she bought this box of ointment. And she falls down before her Savior and she offers it to Him as an offering. As an offering of love. As an offering saying, I know that you're about to die.
[9:07] I know that it is all going to come to an end. And she brings this box before Him. Why would she love Him? Because she knew that He had forgiven her much.
[9:19] In Luke chapter 7, there's another account of a different woman who had come and poured ointment on Jesus' feet. And the reason she did it was because Jesus Christ had forgiven her much.
[9:30] What would cause a woman to give God 300 days wages in one event? What would cause someone to do that but love? But having received something from God?
[9:41] The Bible says in 1 John that we love Him because He first loved us. Mary's act of worship and love was based on Christ's love for her. She knew that He was going to die.
[9:52] She knew that He was going to bear the sins of the world on the cross. She was grateful for all that Christ had did for her. She would remember while she's pouring this ointment upon His feet, she had to remember, He just raised my brother from the dead.
[10:07] My brother was dead and I was missing him and I was weeping and he was there. He had come to the grave and he had wept with me. He had come to the grave and he cared for me. Jesus Christ cared for me and now I want to give back to Him something.
[10:20] Something small. It's just one year's wages. And I want to return it to Christ was Mary's desire because she loved Him. Because she had talked with Him.
[10:35] Because He had talked with her. And because He had forgiven her of all of her sins. This caused her to give more than a year's wages. And she did it to prepare our Lord Jesus Christ for His burial.
[10:51] Jesus Christ is going to die. In just a few days Jesus Christ will die. He will die on the cross for the sins of the world. And here Mary prepares Him for His burial.
[11:05] She gave the glory of her own hair. When she fell down before Him, I know many of you women probably like your hair. I don't have any hair to really like. But you have your hair and you take care of it and you cut it and you clean it, I hope.
[11:18] And then you take care of it and you put conditioner in it or whatever you do. And some women even dye it all the time. And you take care of your hair because it means something to you. And here Mary, it also meant something to her.
[11:31] But Jesus who had been walking and they didn't wear shoes like we do. He would have had sandals. And He would have walked through mud and dirt. And His feet would have been filthy. And she just poured all this ointment on His feet.
[11:42] And she wipes it with her hair. She doesn't go and grab a washcloth because that's what you're supposed to use. She uses her own hair, her own glory, which is an act of humility. She humbled herself before our Lord.
[11:55] She said, God, You are worthy. You're about to die and You are worthy. And I'm going to give You my offering. It's not much. It's all that I can give according to Mark chapter 14.
[12:09] But I'm going to give it to you. Because I love you. Because you loved me. She falls down before Him. And she weepingly, with all this ointment, with her tears, she washes His feet.
[12:26] How much are you willing to give because of His love for you? And your resulting love for Him? God died on the cross for our sins. And how much are we willing to give Him? He took everything.
[12:38] And Mary knew that He did everything. And how much are we willing to give Him? Would you give Him your all? Would you give Him your money?
[12:48] Would you give Him your time? Would you give Him even your spouse or your children? What is He worthy of from you? What is the great God of heaven worthy of? He died for you.
[13:00] He was buried for you. And He does everything for you. And what is He worthy of? He's worthy of everything. God is worthy of everything.
[13:10] And Mary recognizes this here. And it's my favorite because she falls down and says, God, You're worthy. I'm nothing. You did everything. Then you're worthy. So you have Lazarus who sits there and he pays attention to Christ and he's worshiping Him by listening to Him.
[13:25] And then you have Martha and she serves Him. And now you have Mary and her act is giving. She gave everything. She gave an entire year's wages. What she would have eaten on for a whole year.
[13:36] What she would have lived with for a whole year. She gives it all. And how much today do we give to our God? How much do we give to Jesus Christ because of what He's done for us? You have these three acts of worship that are real, that are genuine, that are based on a work of Jesus Christ.
[13:54] And then you come to verses number 4 through 6. And you find fake worship. Verse number 4. Then saith one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray Him.
[14:07] Why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This He said, not that He cared for the poor, but because He was a thief and had the bag and bare what was put therein.
[14:20] Here we find fake worship. He's looking across the room and He sees all these people doing all of these things and He's sitting there and He has the appearance of being one of God's own.
[14:31] He is His disciple. He's sitting there with Christ. He's been with Him this whole time. He saw Lazarus raised from the dead and He's looking at Mary and she throws this ointment on His feet and He says, what in the world are you doing?
[14:44] What a waste. That's 300 pence. That's a year's wages. I could do a lot with that money. I mean, we could feed some poor people and I could take a little bit for myself because I need some.
[14:56] And the first thing we find in fake worship here is that they find fault with other people's worship. You find here that what Judas' problem was is he was finding fault with other people.
[15:08] He said, your act of worship, Mary, it's a waste. You're wasting your time. He doesn't deserve this. What a waste of money. Why would you throw good smelling perfume on someone's feet?
[15:20] This is just a waste. He didn't think Christ was worthy of so much because he didn't believe Him. Because he didn't believe in Christ.
[15:32] Because Christ wasn't His Lord, he didn't believe. Christ was worthy. So when someone throws 300 pennies, when someone throws an entire year's wages on another man's feet and his eyes, he's like, what a waste.
[15:43] He's nobody. He's supposed to be the Messiah. He's supposed to be doing all this, but he's not taking over the world. He's not worth it. He thought she was a fool for throwing money on the ground like that.
[15:56] It sounds good from the outside because he says, all this money, we could have helped some poor people. That sounds good. Helping the poor is a good thing. He says, let's go help some poor people with this money. Why would you waste it on her feet?
[16:08] Not her feet, his feet. Why would you waste it on Christ's feet? We could take all of that money and we could feed some poor people. It sounds good. But inside, there was nothing good about it.
[16:21] First off, I'd like to ask you, do you criticize and mock people who are giving to Christ, who are serving Him? Is your... What you do, is it finding fault with other people's acts of worship?
[16:31] Does it seem foolish to you that people give money, time, their lives, their all to Christ? Does it seem foolish? Is Christ not worthy of that to you?
[16:45] Second thing he wanted is he didn't want Christ to get glory. He didn't want Christ to be praised. He didn't want Christ to get everything. He said, I want it for me. Why did he want the money put in the offering?
[16:56] He said, because I can take a little bit. He was a treasurer. He said, if there's this little bag of money, well, I can slip a little bit here and there and I can buy me a soda. Well, he didn't buy sodas, but I can buy something.
[17:07] He could buy something for himself. He was living for himself. He was a hypocrite, for he had no real care for the poor. He didn't want the poor to get fed.
[17:19] His thought was, if you give a little bit, I could take a little. He cared for himself and much being made of himself.
[17:31] Is your worship fake? Do you say it is for Christ when it's really just for you? Are you worshiping Christ and it's not really for him?
[17:42] It's because you want other people to think you're good? Is it because you want other people to look at you and think, oh, that's a good person. That's a good thing they're doing. It looks good. It sounds good.
[17:53] Is it really for you? Is your acts of worship? Is your acts of service? Is your acts of anything? Are they for you? Are they because you think you have to make your own way to heaven? Is it because you think that maybe God will be happier with you because of it?
[18:07] Is it because you think it will put you in better standing with someone? What's your reason for doing what you do? Do you have the outward appearance of salvation but lack the work on the inside as Judas did?
[18:22] Judas had sat with Christ for three and a half years at this point. He had been with Christ. If anyone in this room could be with Christ, I would love to just be able to stand and walk with Christ continually for three years.
[18:35] It would be awesome. And Judas, he did this and yet he saw everything Christ did and he said, this is not worth anything. This is nothing. And he was in it the entire time for his own pocket, for his own name, for his own feelings, for his own worth.
[18:54] So today, are you Lazarus? Are you sitting with Christ because he's raised you from the dead? You were dead in your sins and now you have life in Christ.
[19:07] Are you serving him like Mary was? Martha was? Are you giving to him like Mary? Or is your worship fake? The last thing I would like you to see is Jesus is being prepared to die.
[19:23] Jesus Christ knew he was going to die. He's sitting here at this table. He knows it's just six days or a few days from now, I will die.
[19:38] We know this even more because in John 3, 14, he says, he's talking to his disciples way before this and he says, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
[19:50] And in John 8, 28, he says, then said Jesus unto them, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that I am he and that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
[20:03] And in Luke chapter 18, he says the same thing and it's all he knows he's going to die. When Jesus Christ came to this earth, he came to die. He knew the entire time what he was here for.
[20:15] It didn't come as a shock for him, 33 and a half years later. It wasn't, oh man, I'm going to die. He knew. He came to die. It was his purpose. Jesus Christ came to die.
[20:30] He says that she is preparing him for his burial. Christ knew he was going to die. He had told his disciples over and over and over and over again, I'm going to die.
[20:41] And yet his disciples never heard him. And they heard him, but they didn't believe. They didn't understand. But we know that Mary did because here it says that she's preparing him for his burial, that she had kept it, that she had kept that ointment for preparing him for his burial.
[21:00] And Jesus also would have known that he was to take our sin on the cross. In Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 28, So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.
[21:11] And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. And in 1 Peter 2, 24 it says, Who is his own self bear our sin on his body on the tree?
[21:25] Jesus Christ bore our sin. When all of this is happening, when Jesus Christ is doing all of his miracles, he knows I'm going to die for you. And he had told Mary that.
[21:36] And he had told all his disciples that. And they all knew. And yet many of them didn't understand. Jesus Christ came to die for us. He came to die for me. Doesn't that make him worthy of everything?
[21:51] When Mary anointed the feet of Christ, he knew what it was for. It didn't come as a surprise, Mary walking into the room and pouring ointment at his feet. He knew what it was for. Because of his great love for us, he had come to earth to die for our sin and to bear a penalty of death for us.
[22:11] So that every one of us could come to know Christ as our own Savior. My question is, do you know Christ? Christ died for you. He gave everything.
[22:22] And all these people in this passage, they know that Christ means the world, that Christ is the Messiah. And do you know that today? Have you been born again?
[22:35] How are you worshipping Christ? Are you worshipping Christ as Lazarus? Are you sitting with him? Do you spend time with him? Do you want to get to know him?
[22:46] Do you get to know God? The only place that we know anything about him or that we know him is through his word. And do you spend time with him? Are you serving him? Can you look at your life and say, I'm serving God not for me, but for him.
[23:00] I'm not serving him that people might think much of me, but I want people to think much of Christ. My Savior, he died for me. And as Mary, are you willing to give everything?
[23:11] Would you fall on your knees before Christ and offer him a year's wages? Would you wipe his feet with your hair? What would you give Christ?
[23:22] Or is all of your worship, is everything you do just fake? Is it just a mere outward appearance saying, I'm somebody because I want people to think much of me?
[23:33] Or is it me saying, I'm going to make much of Christ? How are you worshipping Christ? You have been listening to Micah Rostelli, church planner out of Vision Baptist Church.
[23:50] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com. www.Jублиif.com. www.J remainon is aılmış.com.
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