Participants: Christian Berdahl
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000352
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00:30 Welcome to Faith Chapel, I'm Christian Berdahl,
00:32 Director of Shepherd's Call Ministry. 00:35 Before we pray I have a question for you, 00:39 do you love Jesus? If you answered yes, 00:43 I love Jesus then how do we as human 00:46 beings on planet earth show God, 00:49 show Jesus that we love him, 00:51 I mean after all I can show my family 00:54 members that I love them, I can give them 00:56 hugs and kisses but I can't hug and kiss Jesus. 01:02 How do we show Jesus love? 01:05 Let's pray and then we'll 01:06 explore this question. 01:10 Gracious heavenly Father, Lord, 01:11 we ask that you would be with us, you would 01:13 guide us through the opening of your word, 01:16 I pray that it would illuminate our minds. 01:19 And Father, we ask that you would teach 01:21 us from your scriptures. We ask that you would 01:24 be with us and teach us how to 01:26 love you in Jesus name, Amen. 01:31 So, how do we show love to somebody that we know? 01:37 I discovered that we can say it with words 01:39 and we can say it with our actions and it's 01:43 wonderful to tell people that we love 01:45 them and to communicate that verbally but it's 01:48 not enough friends. We have to back it up 01:51 with some action and I believe that my wife 01:55 for instance needs to know that I truly love 02:00 her and I respect her and I show her love, 02:03 I tell her I love her all the time. 02:06 In fact I tell her over and over again thank 02:08 you for saying yes at the marriage alter and 02:12 she says thank you for asking. 02:14 But friends beyond this wonderful 02:16 communication that we have I have to 02:18 show her that I love her and I spend time 02:22 with her, I rub her back and rub her feet 02:26 and I bring her flowers and I open 02:28 doors for her I show her that I love her, 02:33 but how do we do this with Jesus? 02:36 How do I show Jesus that I love him, has 02:39 my wife become the woman of my dreams 02:42 or is she just something I take for granted? 02:46 Is Jesus just a necessary ingredient 02:49 for salvation, is he just the way to heaven 02:53 or is he may all and all? 02:57 There is a powerful story in the Bible, 02:58 turn with me to Luke 7 and verse 37, there's 03:02 a powerful story in the Bible that 03:04 illustrates, that shows a deep love that a 03:07 woman had for her savior. 03:10 I think of Mary and the alabaster box. 03:15 And behold, a woman in the city, which was 03:17 a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at 03:20 met in the Pharisee's house, brought an 03:21 alabaster box of ointment, and stood 03:24 at his feet behind him weeping, and began 03:26 to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe 03:29 them with the hairs of her head, and kissed 03:32 his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 03:34 Moving quickly onto Matthew 26 starting 03:37 in verse 8, but when the disciples saw this, 03:41 they had indignation. You know what that 03:43 means, that means extreme anger or disgust. 03:47 They said to what purpose is this waste? 03:49 For this ointment might have been sold 03:51 for much, and given to the poor. 03:53 When Jesus understood it, he said to them, 03:56 why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought 03:59 a good work on me. For ye have the poor 04:02 always with you; but me ye have not always. 04:05 For in that she hath poured this ointment 04:06 on my body, she did it for my burial. 04:10 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this 04:12 gospel shall be preached in the whole world, 04:15 there shall also this, that this woman hath 04:19 done be told for a memorial of her. 04:22 Friends, a controversy broke out in the room 04:26 immediately, on one hand they 04:28 were some men of God. 04:31 And they were disgusted by this act 04:35 and on the other hand there was Jesus 04:39 who was reacting positively to this 04:41 thing that she did, the anointing of Jesus, 04:44 the breaking open of the alabaster box 04:46 and so on one hand the men of God were 04:48 saying this disgusting, this is, they had 04:51 actually abhorrence for what had happen 04:54 and on the other side. Jesus is saying 04:57 I accept this, why are you troubling the 04:59 woman? And Mary hears that she did 05:03 well and that the whole world will hear 05:05 about what she did. And then Jesus says, 05:09 your sins Mary are forgiven. 05:14 Was Mary forgiven? Did salvation come 05:17 to her soul because she broke open that 05:20 alabaster box and anointed Jesus? 05:23 Friends, I want to say yes, I believe Mary 05:29 was saved because she anointed 05:31 Jesus with the alabaster box. 05:35 So, how is it that Mary came to such 05:38 a decision to anoint Jesus with this special 05:43 gift, we have to understand that Mary 05:47 was once a great sinner friends, 05:49 she had been a harlot, a woman of the night 05:54 and she was brought before Jesus by the 05:56 Pharisees and set up before Christ and 06:01 Christ did not condemn her. 06:03 He worked with her in a way that touched 06:06 her heart, praise God and this is of course a 06:09 lesson for you and for me, 06:13 because we're just sinners? 06:15 And when we come to Jesus, no matter how 06:18 bad our sins are, no matter what we've done, 06:21 Jesus will still accept us and give us the 06:24 power to turn away from those sins 06:25 friends and Mary experienced this. 06:29 She had a great struggle, she went 06:31 back to her old ways of life, over 06:33 and over and over again. 06:36 But Jesus, as the Bible says, went to 06:38 her over and over again. And finally the seventh 06:42 time she had a battle friends but the 06:45 seventh time that Jesus went to Mary, 06:49 she gained the victory and she became one 06:52 of the strongest disciples of Jesus Christ, 06:55 Praise God, a changed life. 06:59 And so, what is it about this alabaster 07:03 box, what's so special about it and what 07:06 do I think that the breaking of the 07:10 alabaster box is what brought Mary's salvation. 07:16 You see I believe that this story represents 07:19 the entire gospel just in two verses 07:23 and that's how God is, he's amazing in his word 07:26 and if we look at it Mary is the sinner. 07:29 Jesus of course is the savior, he is salvation, 07:33 the church was represented by the 07:36 disciples, they were both spiritual Jews 07:39 and there were gentiles, they were 07:41 people in there as well that were not 07:43 heading quite like Simon that hadn't 07:45 actually accepted Christ as the Messiah. 07:49 They was also the world, they were 07:51 many people in the house that were not 07:54 Christians and were looking at Jesus with 07:56 unfriendly eyes and they represent the 07:58 world and I believe that the alabaster 08:00 box represents Mary's heart and the oil, 08:05 the oil of spikenard that was in that box, 08:08 in that flask was the love that Jesus had 08:15 instilled in her. And so you see Mary 08:19 brought her heart and she opened her heart 08:23 to Jesus and returned the love to her savior 08:28 by anointing him, that's beautiful to me. 08:32 Now, I asked you earlier, how do you 08:34 show that you love Jesus. Now, I wanna go 08:39 back over our scriptures now and 08:41 I want to break down Matthew and we'll 08:44 start in verse, excuse me Matthew chapter 08:47 26 we'll start in verse 37 and it said there 08:50 behold a woman was in the city which was 08:54 a sinner, so it's very clear that Mary was 08:57 a sinner and what 08:59 said, Romans 3:23 says, For all have 09:03 sinned and come short of the glory of God. 09:09 Friends, you and I have sinned, there 09:12 is no question that we're sinners but 09:14 when Mary the sinner, when she knew, 09:17 lets continue on, when she knew in our verse, 09:19 when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in 09:21 the Pharisee's house. When she knew she 09:24 brought an alabaster box of ointment, 09:26 when she knew Jesus was somewhere she 09:28 went there, she sort him out, Amen. 09:31 Yes, the sinner went and sort out Jesus Christ. 09:36 Are we seeking out God with our whole 09:38 heart or just part of it? Are we keeping the 09:42 box of our heart closed to him? 09:45 Are we spending time with Jesus everyday? 09:49 You know when we love someone, 09:50 we want to spend time with them. 09:52 When I return from my travels and I go 09:54 home, I seek out my wife because I love to 09:58 be where she is? I seek out my little 10:00 boys because I love to be where they are? 10:03 If we love someone, we'll want to spend 10:05 time with them and when Mary heard 10:07 Jesus was at Simon's house she went, 10:12 reading on, brought an alabaster box of 10:15 ointment, she brought the alabaster box, 10:18 you see what she brought was her heart, 10:21 she brought her heart and when I fell in 10:23 love with my wife Cobie, I invested 10:26 my heart in her. I brought my whole 10:29 heart, I didn't bring part of it, I brought 10:31 my whole heart to the marriage alter and she 10:34 trusted that I wouldn't give it to anyone else, 10:36 any other woman. The greatest gift 10:39 I can give my wife is that of one hundred 10:42 percent fidelity to her and this proves my 10:46 love for her, if I were to go off with some 10:48 other woman, God forbid, breaking my 10:50 marriage vows and came back telling 10:53 Cobie that I loved her, would she have cause 10:57 to think does he really love me. 11:00 Because if he really loved me his actions 11:03 would be different, friends that's what it 11:07 is like with Jesus, my actions speak louder 11:10 than my words, if I love Jesus then I want 11:14 to spend time with him. If I love Jesus I'll 11:18 act in a way that proves I love him. 11:21 You see I'm married to Christ and if I go 11:24 off as the Bible says a whoring with other idols. 11:29 Does Jesus have cause to think does 11:31 Christian really love me, yes. 11:35 So, what are the idols in the world that we 11:37 have today, some have problems with 11:40 movies, some have problems 11:42 with sports figures. Some people's idols 11:44 are American idol. I mean what are the 11:47 things in the world that cause us to no 11:51 longer love Jesus Christ. You see I can show 11:57 Jesus that I love him, because I have no 12:00 other spouse, no other idols in my life. 12:04 I want to spend time with him and him alone. 12:07 Amen. And then as we read on and she 12:11 stood at his feet behind him, stood 12:15 behind him, I believe this symbolized that 12:18 she would follow him, John 10:4 says, 12:22 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, 12:24 he goeth before them, and the sheep follow 12:27 him: for they know his voice. 12:32 Mary knew the voice of her savior friends 12:35 and when she heard he was at Simon's 12:37 house, she went, she wanted to hear more 12:40 of what Jesus had to say. Mary had a history 12:44 friends of trail, she also had a history of 12:47 victory and through the power of Jesus 12:49 she developed a faith in Jesus Christ and 12:52 experiential knowledge of Jesus and actual 12:55 experience with Jesus delivering her 12:59 and so where ever he was she wanted to be. 13:02 Amen. Now, Jesus doesn't expect us to, 13:05 to follow him like blind dogs, 13:08 just believe, no. He says come to me 13:12 and I'll help you through the struggles 13:14 in life, if you come to me I will help you 13:16 gain victories and this your faith can be built 13:20 by, we can build our faith, victory upon 13:23 victory and Mary had gone through that 13:25 process and therefore she wanted to come to 13:28 that house and show Jesus that she loved 13:31 him and respected him and wanted to 13:34 spend time with him. Then it says whipping. 13:39 She brought the alabaster box she 13:41 stood at his feet behind him whipping, 13:43 why was Mary whipping? Was she sad because 13:47 she was still engaged in her harlot life? 13:49 No, she was whipping because she had been 13:51 delivered from her harlot life friends. 13:55 She was thankful for the new heart that 13:58 Jesus had given her and began to wash 14:02 his feet with her tears. She bowed in humbleness 14:07 before her master, she humbled herself 14:11 to wash his feet. Nothing was too 14:13 great for Mary to do for her savior friends 14:17 and if my wife has something, and asks 14:19 me to do something that she wants me to 14:21 do, nothing is too great for me to do for 14:25 my wife because I love her. Amen. 14:29 And Jesus loved Mary. And Jesus said you 14:35 know Mary I will never ask you to do 14:37 more than I myself have done. 14:41 Mary knew this about Christ, she saw the 14:44 humbleness in Jesus and she said if my 14:46 savior can be humble, if my savior can be 14:49 this way so can I. And so she humbles 14:53 herself right there in front of all the 14:55 scoffing onlookers, she humbles herself 14:57 and washes her feet, washes 15:00 his feet with her hair. 15:03 An incredible display of humility friends. 15:07 You know I've met, I've met men who'd 15:10 say well my wife she needs to clean the 15:13 toilet, she needs to make the food as 15:15 though she's beneath him or something. 15:18 They won't even consider helping their 15:19 wives with mundane chores around the house. 15:23 This is not the spirit of Christ, that's the 15:26 spirit of Satan friends, that selfishness rising 15:29 up, Jesus himself washed feet friends 15:34 and so Mary thought it nothing, ah! 15:37 I'll wash the savior's feet and then she 15:41 wiped his feet with the hairs of her head 15:46 and even more humility she takes her hair 15:49 which the Bible calls her glory and begins 15:52 to wipe, actually she was wiping the tears 15:55 that she was crying from his feet, 15:58 of no doubt his feet were, were travel 16:00 worn and dusty friends but she didn't care. 16:04 She wanted to show that she loved her 16:07 savior so much, she would even take her 16:09 glory and wash his feet. How do we show 16:13 Jesus that we love him? Are we washing his feet? 16:18 Some of us don't even want to wash 16:20 each others feet in the church. 16:24 Friends, its time to become Christians, 16:27 its time to become Christ like, Amen. 16:30 And then she kissed his feet, she weeps, 16:34 she kisses his feet. Why did Mary kiss 16:39 his feet? I believe that she knew that those 16:43 feet were gonna walk the path to the cross. 16:49 I believe that she's, Jesus will never step 16:52 on my heart he'll never trample me 16:54 under his feet, I can kiss these holy feet. 16:58 You see friends true love, Mary didn't 17:01 walk in and say Jesus I love you, no. 17:05 True love, she was motivated to express 17:09 her love, true love is always expressed not 17:14 just verbally, but by actions and friends, 17:17 I believe the greatest example of love in 17:21 action is found in John 3:16, For God so 17:27 loved the world, that he gave his only, 17:31 he gave, he took action. He gave his only 17:34 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 17:37 in Him should not perished but have 17:39 everlasting life. Friends, real love will 17:43 always be expressed not only by words but 17:46 by actions. God didn't say I love you and 17:49 didn't take action. He said I love you so 17:51 much that I will send my son to die for you. 17:57 God took action, Hallelujah. 18:02 1 John 3:8 says, 1 John 3:18 says, 18:08 My Little children, let us not love in word, 18:12 neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 18:17 Notice, it says let us not just love people 18:21 with our mouths but in deed and in truth, 18:24 we must actually do something. 18:27 Real love is always expressed. 18:31 And then she anointed them with the ointment, 18:34 she broke open the alabaster box friends, 18:37 her heart had been broken in times past. 18:42 And now she opened her heart up to the one 18:46 who had given her that new heart, 18:48 the new heart that was filled with love, 18:51 she opens it up and she says here Jesus 18:56 I want to anoint you then she reaches out, 18:59 she actually physically touches 19:02 Jesus Christ and anoints him. 19:08 Awesome, I'd love to be able to physically 19:11 reach out and anoint my savior, to give 19:13 him a hug and kiss and say thank you. 19:16 I don't have that opportunity yet. 19:19 I will some day, amen. But friends, 19:21 Mary reached out and anointed Jesus, 19:26 you see she took her heart and she gave 19:31 back the love that Christ had given her 19:35 with the new heart that she was experiencing. 19:38 Ezekiel 36:26 says, a new heart, and a new 19:43 spirit will I put within you, and I will take 19:46 away the stony heart out of your flesh, 19:48 and I will give you a heart of flesh. 19:52 Mary knew what kind of heart she had 19:54 before and now she knew there was a 19:56 change, there was something different, 19:58 something miraculous had happened because 20:00 she embraced Jesus Christ 20:04 and his power to change. 20:07 The ointment my friends was a symbol 20:11 of the love contained within our heart. 20:14 The alabaster box was her heart, was Mary 20:17 saved because she anointed Jesus with 20:21 the ointment? Yes, because it was a 20:24 reflection of what had happened inside 20:26 of her, this was the outward working of 20:28 that, but friends yes she was saved 20:30 because she gave all of her heart to Jesus 20:32 Christ and I want to encourage 20:34 you to do the same. Amen. Amen. 20:39 Do you know how much Mary gave in 20:41 that one monetary gift, that monetarily 20:44 speaking, she gave 300 denarii, 20:47 that doesn't mean much to you and me, 20:50 300 denarii was what a person would earn 20:54 in an entire year, one denarii a man 20:58 would earn for a day's labor, 300 denarii was 21:02 an entire year's wage, let me bring that 21:04 home to you, here in America the U.S. 21:08 National Median income in 2004 was 21:12 $43,000, now this just confirms that I am 21:15 indeed a pauper, but what if you earned 21:19 $40,000 lets just say $40,000, have you 21:25 ever shown Jesus Christ love like that, 21:28 here, let me put my money where my 21:31 mouth, I love you Lord but let me put 21:32 my money where my mouth is, let me give 21:35 you an entire year's wage in one gift. 21:38 Have we ever done that? 21:41 Then Mary must have had some sort of 21:43 deeper relationship going on with Jesus 21:47 Christ, he must have entered her heart 21:49 in a way that totally saved her friends to 21:52 where nothing was too much for her savior. 21:55 Hallelujah. Have you and I experienced 21:57 that, have we given an entire year? 22:02 What if you make a 100000, what if you 22:04 make a million? Have you ever given 22:06 that kind of gift to Jesus Christ? 22:08 Friends, let me ask you have you ever 22:10 given a larger gift than that to Jesus? 22:13 Have you ever given him the 22:15 gift of your entire heart? 22:20 Have you? You know when I came to Christ 22:23 I thought I don't need to ever work in the 22:26 secular world again, I must go and I must 22:29 preach, I must sing, I must encourage 22:32 people that there's a better way of life 22:34 because Jesus had given me a new heart 22:36 like he gave Mary friends. I don't earn 22:39 money now like I used to, but I can 22:43 at least show Jesus that I love him by 22:46 giving him my life service, amen. 22:49 You can do the same too friends, I have no 22:51 training, I'm not a preacher, I've never 22:53 been trained as a singer, but friends 22:56 that's the ministry God's called me to, 22:58 I'm just a lay person and I want to show 23:00 Jesus not just say I love him I wanna 23:02 show him that I do indeed love him. 23:06 I want to encourage you get off the couch, 23:09 get out there and witness to other 23:12 people, win a soul for Christ. Amen. 23:19 And she anointed him, she reached out 23:23 and touched Jesus Christ, physical touch 23:27 friends is so important, you know scientists 23:30 have done studies that newborn babies if 23:32 they're left to themselves and have no physical 23:34 touch, most time they're ridden with 23:36 disease and many times they die. 23:39 Physical touch is important friends, 23:40 it's important, Jesus embraced physical 23:43 touch, I don't believe Jesus walked around 23:45 saying I am sorry I can't hug you. 23:46 I am sorry I can't, I can't no, no. 23:50 Jesus, I can envision him giving people 23:53 warm embraces saying I love you 23:55 it's gonna be okay, go on. 23:58 He loved to have the children 23:59 come and sit on his lap. I'm sure no doubt he 24:04 hugged them, he kissed them on their 24:06 cheek, he patted their heads. 24:08 Physical touch is important friends. 24:14 And friends, I, I want to encourage 24:17 you to go all the way with Christ, if there's 24:21 someone in your midst be like Jesus 24:23 and if they must be ministered to with a touch. 24:28 A gentle pad on the back, a warm 24:31 handshake, a hug, be like Jesus, you know why? 24:36 Lets read Matthew 25:40 here's a way 24:40 that we can show Jesus love, verily 24:42 I say unto you, and as much as you have 24:44 done it unto the least of these My brethren, 24:47 you have done it unto Me. 24:49 So, if I show a person, someone on this 24:54 planet whether I know them or not, 24:57 if I show them love, if I lead them to some 25:00 help that they might need, if I encourage 25:02 them, if I give them a warm handshake, 25:04 I have done it unto Jesus, that's how we 25:08 can show Jesus Christ love, to be like Jesus 25:13 and to go and to minister to people, 25:15 sometimes the greatest sermon that 25:17 can be preached is by a family that is a 25:21 Christian family. I'll tell you this, 25:24 in my own family with my extended 25:26 family members, I had a lot of truth 25:27 and I would go out and preach this truth 25:29 if you will to them and I would kind of 25:31 beat them up with my Bible and friends 25:33 I never won their heart but when I went 25:37 and showed my love and my family, 25:40 my little boys and wife and I, would go 25:41 there and cut my father-in-law's lawn. 25:45 When we would get the weed eater out and 25:47 we would go just and we would drive an 25:49 hour and half one way three hour round trip 25:52 to go and do these chores for him when he couldn't. 25:54 Friends, we began to show that we loved 25:57 him and when he said thank you so much, 26:01 say you know praise God. God is good 26:03 and we leave it at that, we didn't try to 26:05 proselytize him, we just showed him 26:07 the love of Christ and to this day, now, today. 26:12 After ten years of trying to witness to 26:16 my in-laws now their hearts are really open 26:20 because we shut our mouth with all of our 26:22 truth that we started living the truth. 26:24 Amen. Amen. Go out and find someone to 26:29 love. Amen. Amen. We have so much 26:35 here to cover and our time is going very 26:37 quickly, but friends one of the greatest 26:39 things I want you to think about is that the 26:41 fragrance that Mary poured upon Jesus 26:44 Christ, that oil of spikenard, something 26:46 does, something happens with that, 26:48 it seeps, seeps into the skin, it soaks in, 26:52 and the fragrance lingers. You see Jesus Christ 26:57 smelt what Mary had given him, when he 26:59 stood in the court of Pilate, he could smell 27:02 the scent as he hung there on the cross 27:05 and he knew that there was at least one 27:07 that loved him and he could look down 27:09 through the future, the portal of time and say 27:12 I know that there will be other people that 27:14 will love as I have loved. That will show me the 27:17 love by the way that they live their life, 27:19 friends, I want to encourage you to be 27:22 like Jesus, let the fragrance of 27:23 Christ love linger in your life. 27:27 Be like Mary, be open friends, 27:31 don't be like Judas in that room, who said 27:33 you know what this is disgusting to me. 27:36 I'm gonna go out and have Christ betrayed. 27:40 No, be like Mary, be like Jesus and show 27:46 people all around you what it is to be a 27:49 Christian, go all the way with Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17