Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW018030A
|
00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:10 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Family Worship 01:13 and whether you're watching this on a Friday evening 01:16 and a Sabbath is just beginning to come in for you 01:19 or a Saturday evening, 01:20 and you're getting ready to face your work week, 01:23 we welcome you to a time of prayer, 01:25 and praise, and study, and blessing, 01:28 as together we worship the Lord in spirit 01:30 and in truth. 01:32 I'm CA Murray, and I've got a wonderful group 01:34 of brothers and sisters with me today. 01:36 I'm giddy with this particular group. 01:39 These are students of the Word, people who love the Lord, 01:42 and people who have something to say about Jesus. 01:45 I'm in the company of my wife, Boo, better known as Irma. 01:50 Irma Boo Boo on a good day. 01:52 Good to have you here. Yes. 01:54 Good to be here with you, honey, once again. 01:57 Praise the Lord. 01:58 To my left, Mr. and Mrs. Quinn, JD and Shelley. 02:02 Good to have you guys. It's lovely to be here. 02:04 It's our pleasure. Yeah. 02:05 Love sharing Bible timeless studies with Shelley. 02:10 Whenever I call her, morning, noon, day and night, 02:13 she is on the spot. 02:15 And thank you guys, 02:16 like we got you kind of late on this one. 02:17 Yeah. So thank you. 02:19 Actually, I got to be kind of late, 02:20 so we're praising the Lord 02:22 because any time you can sit together 02:23 and study the Word of God, it's refreshing, 02:25 a refreshing thing that builds you up. 02:27 To my far right, Miss Dee Hilderbrand. 02:31 Hello. Good to have you here. 02:33 It is so nice to be here with the two of you. 02:35 Amen. Good to have you here. Yes. 02:36 And Garry Will. Good to have you here, man. 02:38 Thank you for inviting me. Good to have you here, man. 02:39 It's great to be here. 02:41 Another student of the word, 02:42 and I'm told he does little preaching on the side 02:43 when he get the chance. 02:45 So we pray the Lord. I love the way he studies. 02:47 He does, he does that 02:49 he is a good student of the Word. 02:51 We want you know and we're going to skew 02:53 the singing today 02:55 because we've got so much to talk about. 02:57 And we want to make current application 03:00 to some very pertinent Bible information. 03:02 So we're coming from actually 03:03 three different books of the New Testament 03:06 that all bespeak the same issue in the New Testament. 03:09 Mark Chapter 14, 03:12 John Chapter 12 and Luke Chapter 7, 03:18 all of them bespeak this incident 03:20 that happened at Simon the Pharisee's house, 03:23 where Mary performed a little act of obedience 03:27 to the Lord. 03:29 She was so thankful to the Lord 03:31 that she did something that put her in a little hot water 03:33 with some of the people that were around, 03:35 but Christ defended her, so we want to talk about that. 03:38 We're going to read a little bit of it 03:40 from each chapter and each book rather 03:43 because we want you to get the whole picture, 03:44 and each writer Mark, John, Luke, 03:49 approach the story from a slightly different angle, 03:52 and Luke and John give you 03:55 much more information than Mark. 03:56 You know, Mark is the miracle guy. 03:57 Mark likes to get right to the miracles. 04:00 Back end of Chapter 1, he's already into miracles, 04:03 so he didn't give you a lot of culture, 04:04 he goes right to what's happening. 04:06 John gives you much more information, 04:09 and then Luke gives you a whole other spin. 04:10 He gives you the interpersonal, 04:12 what's going on in the heads of some of these people, 04:14 so we're gonna read a little bit of that. 04:16 Then I want to do a quick reading from Ellen White 04:17 as she comments on this particular passage 04:19 and then you kind of get the picture. 04:21 Then each of us has a little something to say 04:23 as to how this impacts us, affects us, 04:25 and hopefully we'll have ramifications 04:27 for goodness in your own life. 04:29 So let's start with Mark. 04:31 Mark Chapter 14, and we're beginning at verse 1. 04:35 JD, is that yours? 04:36 That is mine. 04:38 And that's Mark 14. 04:40 I'm gonna read verses 1 through 4. 04:43 JD, before we do that, let's pray. 04:45 I just, you know, you get so excited to get into... 04:47 Shelley, would you lead us some prayer please? 04:49 Absolutely. 04:50 Heavenly Father, we come before You 04:52 in the name of Jesus Christ. 04:53 Thanking You for the Sabbath day, 04:55 thanking you Father that 04:57 it is a more a memorial that You are a Creator, 05:01 our Redeemer 05:03 that You're the one who recreates us 05:05 in the image of Jesus, and thanking You Father 05:08 that as Exodus 31:13 says that 05:12 the Sabbath is a sign that 05:15 You are the one who sanctifies us. 05:17 Amen. Salvation does belong to You. 05:19 Father, we are so very grateful to You for Jesus Christ 05:23 and Your Holy Spirit and Your Word, 05:26 wonderful gifts of grace You have given to us, 05:29 and we ask in Jesus' name that 05:31 now You would empty us of us, fill us with Your Holy Spirit. 05:35 Now send Your Holy Spirit to be our teacher 05:39 and may we Lord learn from the story of Mary, 05:44 what true worship is really all about. 05:48 We ask this for the glory of Your name, 05:51 in Jesus' name, amen. 05:52 Amen. Amen. 05:54 Thank you so much Shelley. 05:55 JD? Yes. 05:56 Once again, Mark 14:1- 4. 05:59 "After two days it was the Passover 06:02 and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 06:04 And the chief priest and the scribes sought 06:07 how they might take by trickery and put Him to death. 06:10 But they said, 'No, not during the feast, 06:13 lest there be an uproar of the people.' 06:15 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 06:18 as he sat at the table, a woman came having 06:21 an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard, 06:26 and then she broke the flask, poured it on His head. 06:29 But there were some who were indignant among themselves 06:32 and says 'Why was this fragrant oil wasted?'" 06:35 All right. Boo, you pick that up. 06:37 Yes. 06:38 "For it might have been sold 06:40 for more than three hundred denarii 06:42 and given to the poor. 06:44 And they criticized her sharply. 06:47 But Jesus said, 'Let her alone, why did you trouble her? 06:52 She has done a good work for me. 06:54 For you have the poor with you always 06:57 and whenever you wish, you may do them good, 07:00 but me, you do not have always. 07:03 She has done what she could. 07:05 She has gone before hand to anoint, My body for burial. 07:10 Assuredly, I say to you, 07:13 wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, 07:16 what this woman has done 07:18 will also be told as a memorial to her.'" 07:22 Very good. So that's Mark's recitation. 07:25 He has some very pertinent information, 07:26 particularly this last line, 07:28 "Wherever the gospel is preached 07:29 what she has done is going to be 07:31 from now on a memorial to her." 07:33 Let's go over the Book of John. As we are in John. 07:36 We go to Chapter 12 07:38 and we begin reading in John Chapter 12. 07:43 And, Dee, I think you have John 12. 07:46 Let's see... 07:48 No, Gary, Gary has John 12. 07:49 Gary has a different verse 07:50 and then I was gonna pick up at five. 07:52 Okay. Okay. So John 1:1. 07:55 John 12:1, 07:57 "Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, 08:01 were Lazarus was, which had been dead, 08:04 whom He raised from the dead. 08:06 There they made Him a supper, and Martha served, 08:08 but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him. 08:12 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, 08:15 very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, 08:17 and wiped his feet with her hair, 08:19 and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment." 08:23 And then starting with verse 4. 08:25 All right, no, go ahead and do fourth. 08:26 "Then saith one of the disciples, 08:28 Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him." 08:33 What he said was "'Why was this fragrant oil 08:37 not sold for three hundred denarii 08:39 and given to the poor? 08:41 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, 08:44 but because he was a thief, and had the money box, 08:47 and he used to take what was put in it.' 08:51 But Jesus said, 'Let her alone, 08:55 she has kept this for the day of my burial.'" 08:59 Thank you so very much. 09:00 Now, Shelley, I'm gonna put Luke's recitation in your hands 09:05 and read several verses from that Chapter 7 if you will. 09:08 I'm just going to read because it gets quite detailed, 09:12 so I'll just read Luke 7 09:14 and this is verses 36 through 39. 09:19 It says, "Then one of the Pharisees," 09:22 this would be Simon, "ask him to eat with him 09:26 and he went down to the Pharisee's house 09:28 and sat down to eat. 09:31 And, behold a woman in the city, " 09:34 now this is important, 09:36 "who was a sinner when she knew that 09:39 Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, 09:43 brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil. 09:47 And stood at His feet behind Him weeping, 09:51 and she began to wash His feet with her tears, 09:55 and wipe them with the hair of her head, 09:58 and she kissed His feet, 10:01 and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 10:03 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, 10:08 he spoke to himself saying, 10:10 'This man, if he were a prophet, 10:13 would know who and what manner of woman this is, 10:18 who is touching him, for she is a sinner.'" 10:22 Wow! Powerful. Powerful. 10:24 So you see now, 10:26 there are several layers of things going on. 10:29 Many, many layers. 10:30 We have to assume some things. 10:32 This supper, this feast was being held 10:36 at the house of Simon the leper. 10:38 Obviously, he was no longer a leper, 10:40 because had he been a leper, no one would come. 10:44 I mean, no one's gonna go to a leper's house for feast. 10:46 Plus, lepers couldn't have houses 10:48 and lepers would not invite anybody 10:49 and no one would come. 10:50 So he is post leprosy now. 10:53 He is there, having been as good as dead and revived, 10:58 and Lazarus is there, 10:59 who was dead and revived, so this is... 11:02 You've got many, many layers. 11:03 You've got the disciples there, 11:05 you've got Mary there, you've got Martha there, 11:06 you've got things going on in Simon's mind, 11:09 you've got things going on in Judas' mind, 11:11 you've got things going on... 11:13 You know, many, many layers of story, 11:14 and yet above all of this what stands out 11:16 is the sacrifice that Mary is making. 11:19 That's what I want to talk about. 11:20 Ellen White talks about this. 11:22 Just gonna read a couple of paragraphs 11:23 and then I want you to wade in and each person kind of give 11:26 what you're impressed to talk about. 11:30 This is called Nothing Too Costly, 11:32 "Christ delighted in the earnest desire of Mary 11:34 to do the will of her Lord. 11:36 He accepted the wealth of pure affection 11:39 which His disciples did not and would not understand. 11:43 The desire that Mary had to do this service for her Lord 11:46 was of more value to Christ 11:49 than all the precious ointment in the world, 11:52 because it expressed her appreciation 11:54 of the world's Redeemer. 11:56 It was the love of Christ that constrained her. 11:59 The matchless excellence of the character of Christ 12:02 filled her soul." 12:03 You know, when God does something for you, 12:04 you got to do something back, 12:06 there's nowhere to go around it. 12:07 "The matchless excellence 12:08 of the character of Christ filled her soul. 12:10 The ointment was a symbol of the heart of the giver. 12:14 It was an outward demonstration of a love 12:16 fed by heavenly streams until it overflowed." 12:19 I love that. Just a little bit more. 12:21 "The work of Mary 12:23 was just a lesson the disciples needed to show them, 12:26 that the expression of their love for Him 12:29 would be pleasing to Christ. 12:31 He had been everything to them and they did not realize 12:35 that soon they would be deprived of His presence, 12:38 that soon they could suffer..." 12:40 I'm sorry. 12:41 "That soon they could offer him 12:43 no token of their gratitude for his love. 12:47 The loneliness of Christ 12:48 separated from the heavenly courts, 12:50 living a life of humanity 12:52 was never understood or appreciated 12:55 by the disciples as it should have been." 12:57 He left glory to come down here, 12:59 and His closest followers didn't really get it 13:03 that He was separated from His fellows. 13:06 He was in a strange place for Him, 13:08 doing the work that is assigned to do, 13:11 and sometimes you just get lonely, 13:12 you know, when you're out there by yourself. 13:13 Last paragraph. 13:15 "The same want is evident in our world today. 13:19 But few appreciate all that Christ is to them. 13:22 If they did the great love of Mary would be expressed, 13:26 the anointing would be freely bestowed. 13:29 The expensive ointment would not be called a waste. 13:33 Nothing would be thought too costly to give for Christ, 13:37 no self-denial or self-sacrifice, 13:40 too great to be endured for His sake." 13:44 Amen. 13:46 And I think each of us in our Christian walk 13:48 has to answer the question, 13:50 how much is Jesus worth to me? 13:54 How much am I going to sacrifice for Him? 13:57 Am I going to give Him all, 13:59 or am I going to give Him nothing? 14:00 Am I gonna try to hold back part for myself? 14:03 Well, He gave all, He needs to get all. 14:06 Amen. All right. 14:07 Shelley, I see you got some stuff here. 14:09 You want to wade out for us. 14:10 Sure, the first thing that comes to my mind is, you know, 14:13 here it is just six days before His triumphal entry, 14:18 the crucifixion and everything. 14:22 Jesus has become very popular in Bethany. 14:25 I mean, his good friends 14:27 Lazarus, Mary and Martha lived there. 14:29 He went to visit them all the time, 14:31 but after He raised Lazarus from the death, 14:35 He gained even greater respect. 14:38 So He comes to visit them 14:40 during His final week of His life 14:43 and Simon invites Jesus, and when you invited Jesus, 14:47 all of His disciples come, 14:49 so here you've got a Pharisee, who as you said, 14:54 after he had that encounter with Christ and was healed, 14:58 this was the Pharisee who knew what it was like 15:03 to be unclean. 15:05 He had lived in a leper's colony, 15:08 he had to be separated from his family and his friends, 15:12 and he's throwing this feast. 15:14 Now, there's a lot of Bible interpreters 15:17 who will say because Matthew, Mark and Luke 15:20 don't identify the name of the woman. 15:24 They just say the woman, the woman. 15:27 Now here we saw in Luke. 15:29 Luke calls her a sinner. 15:32 Now this is significant because we've all sinned 15:36 and fallen short of the glory of God. 15:39 For him to put that designation shows that... 15:43 Can I say, she was notorious for her sin. 15:46 It said, had a reputation. 15:47 So there was a reputation there. 15:50 Now, we know this is Mary 15:53 who sat at Jesus' feet, who was, 15:56 you know, one of the three 15:58 that didn't leave Him at the cross, 15:59 who was the first to the tomb. 16:02 Here is a devoted disciple of Jesus 16:05 but because He brings this up, 16:07 you know, I believe there is a reasonable assumption 16:10 that we can say, this was Mary Magdalene, 16:14 that here she had fallen into this sin, 16:17 she'd moved away from her family, 16:21 you know, to another area so to spare them embarrassment 16:25 and she has an encounter with Jesus. 16:29 He cast seven demons out of her. 16:32 She is now a devoted follower. 16:35 John's the only one who tells us, in John 11:2, 16:40 what her name is, that she is Mary, 16:43 so that we know she is Lazarus' sister, right? 16:46 And once again, we see Martha. 16:50 What is she doing at this dinner? 16:52 Serving. She is serving. 16:53 She's in the kitchen rattling the pots and pans, 16:56 that's what she does. 16:58 But here comes Mary, 17:02 I believe because Simon knows and has, 17:06 he recoils and casts judgment, 17:09 not only on her but on Jesus for letting him touch her. 17:14 I believe he was one who had encounters with her, 17:19 perhaps even led her into sin, 17:23 and now think of what it had to be like for her 17:27 to walk into his house. 17:29 But you know what? 17:31 True love, true adoration for Christ, 17:35 you lose all self-consciousness, 17:36 you're not worried about what others will say. 17:39 She comes in, and when they were at the table, 17:43 all the men are at the table. 17:45 There was Lazarus giving silent witness 17:47 to the power of Christ's resurrection, right? 17:50 But what they did was when they ate in the east, 17:54 they reclined at the table, 17:56 they propped one arm up on the table 17:59 and their feet would be behind them. 18:00 Correct. 18:02 So she doesn't come around the front 18:03 to make a big to do out of this, 18:05 but she comes behind Him and as she, 18:09 you know, probably she heard like the other disciples heard, 18:12 that Jesus was talking about His death 18:15 and she probably knew His death was imminent, 18:18 and maybe she understood it 18:20 better than the other disciples did. 18:22 But she's at His feet, humbly she bows down there 18:26 and she just is overcome with emotion, 18:29 and her tears are flowing, and I love what Luke says 18:33 that she began to wash His feet with her tears. 18:37 I don't think this was planned, you know, why? 18:40 She didn't have a towel with her. 18:42 And so what she did was let down her hair, 18:45 which in their culture, a woman's hair was her glory, 18:50 so to let down the hair was not so acceptable, 18:54 but she's drying His feet 18:57 and then she's kissing His feet which is... 18:59 Did you know that was a common practice 19:01 to embrace and kiss the feet was considered an honor? 19:05 So there's nothing wrong there, 19:07 but this is a woman who takes, 19:12 the alabaster box was very expensive, very soft. 19:17 It could be carved and it was like a rose bud. 19:21 It was closed up and it didn't have a stopper 19:24 that you could take it out and just pour a little bit 19:27 like we do for your perfume bottles. 19:29 But as she pours this out on His feet, 19:33 she had to break open this alabaster box, 19:36 which was expensive. 19:38 The spikenard was worth a year's wages. 19:42 And, you know, I have to ask you. 19:44 I'll quit and let somebody, I got a lot I could say 19:46 but how would we feel 19:49 if someone came into our church service 19:52 and they walked up front and to honor the Lord 19:56 they took say $30,000 or $40,000, 19:59 and they let it match and it went up, 20:02 would be going. 20:04 What a waste? 20:07 Now that, you know, that's a waste. 20:09 That could have been... 20:10 We'd have probably been 20:12 just as guilty as the others saying, 20:14 "It could have been given to the poor." 20:16 Wouldn't we have? 20:18 But now we'll get into Judas in a minute. 20:21 But the whole point is, 20:23 I believe the only reason we have this story 20:27 is because Christ was memorializing 20:30 her act of worship. 20:32 Amen. 20:33 He said, "Where ever the gospel is told..." 20:35 And it's in all four gospels, it's in Matthew as well, 20:38 in Matthew Chapter 26, 20:40 "Wherever this gospel is told, this story will be shared 20:45 to memorialize what she's done here today." 20:48 So Mary was in an act 20:51 of humility and adoration for the Lord. 20:57 She loved Him so much. 20:59 She loved Him so much because He had done so much. 21:01 Mark makes it very plain and you really need 21:04 all four readings to get the equivalent 21:06 because there's so much going on. 21:07 John names names. 21:09 You know, Mark says, 21:10 "One of the disciples of John calls him up..." 21:12 Well, and John was written several decades later. 21:13 Right. Precisely so. 21:14 Because she was probably already dead, 21:16 the others out of respect. 21:17 But he also names Judas. 21:18 He indeed names names, you know, 21:20 and it connects him to Simon. 21:21 So, but with all of that Christ is reading that 21:24 and He comes to her defense, you know, He defends her. 21:28 And I love this statement, if you're a full gospel church. 21:31 You say you're full gospel, 21:32 you've got to put this story in there 21:34 because it's part of the full gospel 21:35 and it's because of what she did, 21:38 she took the opportunity that she had, 21:40 she flew in the face of convention, 21:42 she broke a lot of rules. 21:43 Absolutely. 21:45 During this time, she broke a lot of rules 21:46 but she wasn't focused on rules. 21:47 She was focused on Jesus. 21:49 Who wants to pick that up? 21:51 As I was reading this, 21:53 and we weren't there, 21:55 so we obviously don't know exactly what happened, 21:58 but she certainly was grateful 22:00 because if she was bringing up her mind 22:01 how special Jesus was to her, let her out of sin, 22:05 you know, raised her brother, 22:07 and so she went in 22:09 I think having this spikenard with the... 22:13 Perhaps the premise of saving this for His burial. 22:19 But yet, they started around the table, 22:22 start talking about Him being the next king. 22:25 All of a sudden, she became very confused, 22:29 and in her anxiety of that confusion, 22:33 we then have an accident, 22:36 and the accident was that... 22:39 That's not the right word, we had a happening. 22:42 And then all of a sudden, 22:43 perhaps what could have happened was 22:45 now we have perfume that is all over everywhere. 22:50 And, of course, she was trying to do this real quiet. 22:52 You did a great presentation in how quiet this was, 22:57 but because of the expanse of the spikenard, 23:00 all of a sudden, everyone in the room knew that 23:03 there was something different, and at that time, 23:05 you know, then the little whispering story taking place. 23:09 The keeper of the box, 23:11 the keeper of the funds for the poor 23:15 of which he was always into. 23:17 Yeah. 23:18 Judas was always snaffling out of there. 23:21 Yes. 23:22 Now the next thing that we know, 23:25 there's going to be a train wreck here. 23:27 Now we're looking at this good versus evil, 23:30 which that's where I'm looking at, 23:32 you know, you have the work of Satan over here, 23:34 but you have the work of Jesus over here guiding. 23:38 So now something is gonna have to happen 23:40 and then in few minutes as we're connecting these dots, 23:44 we'll see what happened 23:46 and how we still speak about this today. 23:51 Well, JD, I want to clarify one thing, 23:52 you weren't saying that her act was unintentional. 23:55 No. No. No. 23:56 Because the way you said, it was... 23:58 No. Okay. 24:00 But, I think that, the way that I read it and everything, 24:05 she was going there under the impression 24:08 that my savior is going to die soon. 24:12 So then there was that moment 24:14 whenever they were talking about kinship, 24:18 nobody could read the future. 24:19 So I mean, they had no idea. Could they? 24:23 I think of what you said that 24:27 the two mentalities, the two hearts 24:33 that were in that room is very impressive to me 24:37 because as you study 24:44 the sacrifice of Christ. 24:48 Sometimes, you know, I have in the past read and read. 24:55 You know, at times, you know... Wow! 24:57 This is really something 24:58 but when He finally comes into your heart, 25:03 then you understand and that's what was happening 25:08 and that Christ wanted the people to understand. 25:13 Christ wanted this story to go on 25:17 because we need it 25:20 to understand through the Holy Spirit, 25:23 when he meant that Christ was going to die, 25:25 no longer is going to be there. 25:27 But when you recognize what God has done for you, 25:33 and people criticize you, when you do something wrong, 25:38 and oh, well, 25:40 she did this or he did that and that we are so easily tend 25:45 to dismiss that person immediately. 25:51 And Christ instead, 25:54 you know, he was affirming that she was a sinner 25:58 but she had been restored. 26:01 He has restored her, 26:03 but nobody else there was understanding 26:09 what she was doing. 26:11 She had completely surrendered to the Lord, 26:15 and obviously more than once or twice. 26:19 So her heart was just so overwhelmed 26:23 on what Christ had done for her, 26:25 she didn't care, she didn't care. 26:28 And that's what He wants us to come to Him. 26:31 I'm busted here too. 26:33 Gary, you actually do get to talk. 26:35 I won't make comment, I'll just read this 26:37 because it goes perfectly with what you're saying. 26:40 In Luke 7:47, when Jesus said, 26:43 "Therefore I say to you, 26:45 her sins, which are many, are forgiven, 26:48 for she loved much. 26:51 But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." 26:56 The one thing I want to add, 26:58 I see a parallel here with this little woman 27:00 and the woman's issue of blood. 27:01 When you want to do your worship to Christ, 27:06 you're not really looking for an audience, 27:07 you know, that wouldn't want us to sneak in 27:09 and touch the garment and get out of there. 27:11 And Christ said, "Wait, wait, wait, 27:12 who touched me?" 27:14 So now everybody knows. 27:15 Well, she wanted to come in, 27:17 wash His feet with her hair and get out. 27:20 But the spikenard broadcasted her activity, 27:22 so she couldn't sneak away because now everybody knows. 27:25 So the thing that says to me, when I'm worshipping Christ, 27:29 it's one-on-one. 27:30 I'm not worried about what you're thinking, 27:32 I'm not worried about what you're thinking 27:33 because as much I'm just focused on Jesus 27:35 and I'm trying to get that blessing 27:36 and I'm trying to let Him know 27:38 that I love Him and that I appreciate His sacrifice. 27:40 Amen. 27:41 Let me use this. 27:43 See I think that... 27:46 I think I knew your background, 27:47 I know most of your backgrounds. 27:50 I relate to Mary 27:53 because I lived many, many years insane, 27:58 and so when the Lord love... 28:03 When love raises you up out of sin 28:06 because there's no other place to go, 28:10 and people... 28:11 The thing is people don't think that you can be saved. 28:15 "You're so bad," then you feel so bad yourself. 28:18 And Christ saved me over and over many times. 28:21 I'm like Mary. 28:22 I didn't always take in, 28:25 you slide back and you come forward and you slide back, 28:28 and other people don't accept that you're a changed person. 28:32 They don't know, your reputation is out there. 28:35 Yes. 28:36 And I can understand when I first... 28:39 Where I lived before, everybody knew who I was. 28:43 So being a Christian was not something 28:46 even my own family really believed per se. 28:50 I've had people say, 28:52 "Oh, I don't think you've changed that much," 28:53 and that just crushes you. 28:55 But that Satan, but when I came here, 28:58 see no one knew my baggage, 29:02 so then it was like, 29:04 "What if somebody walks in and tells." 29:08 So there are many people here who I shared with, 29:11 they knew where I came out of and what I came out of. 29:14 And then, you know, it didn't matter. 29:17 It was okay because I came to the point of, 29:22 "If God can save me, He can save anybody." 29:26 And see the whole idea of why you can't sneak in 29:28 and worship the Lord 29:30 is because that is praise to Him 29:33 that shows His power and shows what He can do. 29:37 And so you do want the world to know 29:39 how mighty and power, God, how powerful God is. 29:43 And you don't care when you're worshiping Him 29:48 and when you realize what He paid that 29:49 He did pay for, paid for everything. 29:52 It does bring you to tears when you're thinking like 29:55 what can I offer Him. 29:56 And really the only thing I have to offer is my life. 30:01 And then when you fail Him, 30:04 that, that rips me apart more than anything else 30:07 is when I feel like I failed Him 30:09 because anybody here at this table can know 30:11 when I didn't act. 30:13 You know, every one of us has acted like or thought like 30:19 Judas. 30:20 We have seen someone do something very spiritual, 30:23 very moving, very... 30:26 You mean like Simon, he was judgmental. 30:27 Simon, oh, Simon, yes. 30:29 Well, Judas judged too but Simon too 30:32 when they look and say if he knew who that was. 30:35 Because we look at people and we go, 30:37 I've thought it myself, 30:39 we've seen someone do something, we're like, 30:40 "Really, I know who you really are." 30:43 You know, but we don't know who they are, really are 30:45 when they're having an encounter with the Lord. 30:47 Amen, yeah. 30:49 You don't know who they really were. 30:50 Yes, right we don't know who they really are. 30:52 But Mary is so special in the Bible 30:56 because she shows, she gives hope to people 31:00 that don't have hope. 31:01 Yes, exactly. 31:03 She gave hope to me when I had no hope. 31:06 And it says, "God." 31:08 And we use that when we worship Him, 31:11 when we praise Him 31:13 and we give Him everything that we have 31:15 because that's all we have to give 31:17 then He does use that. 31:19 He uses it that why you couldn't keep it a secret. 31:22 Because then all of a sudden His spirit 31:25 and the beauty of the worship that Mary gave, 31:29 the beauty of the Lord surrounded 31:31 and covered everyone. 31:32 Amen. 31:33 And it just amazes me that Simon who was a leper 31:37 who really understood 31:38 what it was to live in a black hole 31:40 and to have no hope that God, 31:43 Jesus gave, stepped in there. 31:45 And gave him hope and gave him back his life. 31:47 And he was not willing to surrender and give to Him. 31:51 Yeah, and, Gary, before it comes to you, 31:53 this says something about Simon too. 31:55 It says that Simon was healed without a perfection of faith. 31:58 He's still thinking evil thoughts 32:00 after his healing. 32:02 Now, later on we found out that he finally does surrender. 32:05 But at this point he's still, 32:07 things are still going on in his head 32:09 and he's thinking even evil of other people. 32:12 It shows the length and breadth of the love of Christ. 32:14 Yes, absolutely. 32:16 To reach out to somebody who is not quite yet there. 32:19 But Christ does get him across the line, 32:20 but he ain't there just yet. 32:22 He never gives up on you. Never gave up on me. 32:25 Every time I called to Him and then I fall away, 32:27 He never gave up. 32:29 And He, and that's what He wants us to understand 32:32 and to believe because He can and He wants to change us. 32:37 He wants to change our heart. He wants us to be like Him. 32:41 And He will. 32:42 He has the power to do it Right. 32:44 We've known you since 2003 32:47 and you're one of the most godly woman... 32:49 That's true, I've told her that too. 32:51 And to hear the story of, 32:53 you know, when you bring this up, 32:54 it's always like, "Wow!" 32:57 You know, but then I look back on my own life 32:59 and realize how much God has transformed me 33:02 because I have my PC days too. 33:03 You're not the only one, you know, so. 33:07 That's what I like about the story so much. 33:09 It's about Jesus is more willing to forgive us 33:12 than we're willing to forgive others. 33:13 Yes. Amen. 33:15 And so if you ask the question, 33:16 "Why should this story be included in the gospels?" 33:18 The answer came back to me is, 33:20 "This story is about forgiveness and gratitude. 33:23 Yes, yes. 33:24 And that's why it should be included in the gospel. 33:26 And also some, going through the story, 33:28 I came across an interesting contrast. 33:30 And if you back up all way 33:31 to beginning of the story, Jesus... 33:33 In which account? 33:35 Well, just the whole story, you take it as a whole. 33:39 Jesus didn't own a home. 33:40 And so because of that a lot of people thought 33:42 He was too poor to own a home. 33:44 However the contrast is that 33:46 He owned everything in the planet. 33:47 Yeah. Yes, yes. 33:48 So that's an interesting contrast. 33:50 And so Simon thought that he was doing Jesus the honor 33:53 by preparing a feast for Jesus. 33:55 But it was Simon who Jesus honored 33:57 by accepting the invitation 33:59 and having His presence at the feast. 34:02 That's the contrast there. 34:04 Simon was cured of leprosy as we talked about by Jesus 34:09 but when He saw that a great sinner, 34:12 Mary was touching Him. 34:14 He purposed in his heart that, well, this can't be a prophet. 34:18 The contrast is, Jesus showed him unequivocally 34:22 that He was a prophet 'cause he read his heart 34:23 and then He spoke to him before Simon 34:25 ever had a chance to say the word. 34:26 Precisely, right, right. 34:28 So right there He showed that He was a prophet of prophets. 34:32 And that Simon was actually condemned in that 34:34 that he had said, "Well, He can't be a prophet 34:36 if he's let him touch His feet." 34:38 Another contrast is Simon had been cleansed by Jesus 34:42 of his outward ailment 34:44 but He didn't see his inward defilement. 34:47 Mary was sorrow for what she had done in the body 34:50 and repented and Jesus cleansed her 34:52 of the inward defilement. 34:53 Yes, amen. 34:55 I think that's a beautiful contrast between the two. 34:57 And then lastly, Mary shows her appreciation 35:01 by washing Jesus' feet with her tears and hair, 35:04 anointing Him with the expensive ointment 35:06 while Simon didn't even show common courtesy. 35:09 Because that was the host... 35:11 Because that was the host's duty, exactly. 35:13 So the story is full of contrast, 35:15 I think that really illustrate God's willing to forgive us 35:19 beyond what we're willing 35:20 because Simon wanted Mary condemned. 35:23 He wanted Jesus to condemn her. 35:25 Everyone at the place wanted Jesus to condemn her. 35:27 But Jesus wasn't going to do that. 35:29 He actually showed who was really in the wrong. 35:32 It was Simon. 35:35 Go ahead, yeah. 35:37 Everyone's around the table, yeah, yeah, go ahead. 35:38 If you can take a breath, I'm not gonna jump you. 35:40 Don't worry. 35:41 You know what you have to sit here and think too 35:43 is that Judas is sitting here 35:45 calculating the cost of his life as were others. 35:50 They only thought they were calculating the cost. 35:53 This was Mary's IRA, 35:55 her Individual Retirement Account, 35:58 the money that was in, I mean, 35:59 the money that had purchased this expensive alabaster box 36:04 and the spikenard had been money 36:07 that cost her her reputation, her self-esteem, 36:12 her lack of respect, 36:14 the cost that what went in to purchase this 36:20 with the wages that she'd earned 36:22 in her previous life. 36:24 This was something that cost her everything 36:29 until she met Jesus. 36:31 You know, and so to me, I think that that's something 36:36 that another thing is that sometimes we look at people 36:40 and we're trying to figure out 36:43 the value of what they're doing, 36:46 where as we don't know the back story. 36:51 We don't know like the widow with the two mite 36:54 and you think, "Oh, big deal, two mites." 36:56 But that's all she had to live on. 36:58 So this was such an act of worship, I mean. 37:03 I think it's interesting that you kind of touched on. 37:05 She seemed to be the only one that actually understood 37:08 what Jesus was saying about His death. 37:10 Yes. 37:11 'Cause she actually put that belief into action 37:13 and got something to prepare for that event. 37:16 Yes. 37:17 And like as you related to is, as she heard them saying that, 37:19 well, you know, He might be King. 37:20 They're going to make Him King when He goes to Jerusalem, 37:22 she got caught up in the whole atmosphere 37:26 and so she was like, "Well, hey, 37:28 I'm going to anoint Him now because He's going to be king. 37:30 He's not going to be dying like He said He was." 37:32 She wanted to be the first to honor Him. 37:33 Yes. 37:35 I think that's the wonders of God 37:38 that He cease where we are. 37:42 But He never stops to come and see how to move us 37:47 into to know Him personal. 37:51 Just like Mary became to know Him personal 37:56 to the extent that she didn't care about, 38:01 like, you said to you use whatever anybody thought. 38:04 Or that maybe that was her last money forever, 38:10 you have these so that people that are pretending to be, 38:15 to know Christ to the end, 38:18 yet their minds went on everything else 38:20 but the money, you know, why is she doing this. 38:25 We know who she is. 38:27 And yet Christ was there just to show love, 38:32 to shine in love 38:33 because that's what He chose Simon. 38:37 He knew, Simon is saying these things about Mary. 38:40 Jesus seen it and if he'd really knew. 38:42 Well, who could know better the heart of anybody but Jesus? 38:47 I don't think at that point all of the other disciples knew 38:50 what a devoted disciple she was. 38:52 It was really Simon 38:54 who was thinking of her in the past. 38:57 Do you think that... 38:59 You brought up something that now I just thought about 39:01 that she didn't know if Jesus was going to die 39:04 or if He was going to be king. 39:06 But what she might have known in her heart, 39:08 whether He was king or going to die, 39:10 this may be the last chance... 39:12 That she has, yeah. 39:14 That I can honor Him, that I can let Him know 39:17 what He's done for me. 39:18 So she was taking her last chance to say, 39:22 "You are my Savior, my Lord. 39:24 I want to give You all that I am 39:26 because You have taken darkness out of my heart. 39:28 You've taken all this pain out. 39:31 And You've given me joy and life. 39:33 Jesus gave a context because He said burial. 39:36 So He kind of played it out. 39:38 He said, that's what I was gonna look at. 39:39 Okay, yes. Mark 4:8, it says... 39:41 Precisely, precisely. She has done what she could. 39:44 She's come before head, 39:46 beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 39:49 Two, the gospels talk about her anointing His feet 39:54 that were soon to have the nails driven through them. 39:58 Two, the gospels talk about her anointing His head 40:01 which was soon to have that crown of thorns. 40:04 So I'm sure she did both. 40:07 But I think what Jesus is doing in my personal opinion, 40:11 the whole of this story is, yes it does show 40:15 the difference between forgiveness and unforgiveness. 40:17 I think He's holding her up as the model of worship, 40:23 unreserved worship. 40:25 Yes, yes. Agreed, agreed. 40:26 And here's something 40:28 if we're going to make the personal application. 40:31 Why do we come to church? 40:33 Do we come because it is culturally correct, 40:38 this is how we grew up? 40:39 Is it just habit? 40:42 Is it something that someone expects of us? 40:45 Some people come to church just to be with their family 40:50 or to be with fellowship, 40:51 others are coming to study the Word. 40:54 But the true reason for us coming to church is to worship. 40:58 And if we ever go to church 41:00 and leave without worshipping the Lord, 41:03 we'd miss the whole thing. 41:05 And you know, there is something about us 41:11 that we want to be soberly proper in our worship. 41:17 You know, there's people that I remember 41:19 and I'm going to tell the story of myself, 41:20 my first day at ASI, I'd only been, 41:22 I'd only been joined the church just weeks before. 41:26 And my first day at ASI, I'm sitting on the front row 41:29 and I think, "Oh boy this, oh, this man was singing a song 41:32 that was true worship. 41:34 He wasn't performing. 41:35 And I remember, I raised my hand 41:37 and I was just, oh, I was just caught up in the worship. 41:41 And then a gentleman, 41:43 a well-known evangelist came up to me afterwards 41:46 and he said, well, because he'd seen me on, 41:50 Danny had me up there 41:51 the night before giving a little testimony. 41:53 He said, "We're so excited that you joined the church." 41:56 And I said, "Well, I hope you won't judge me 41:59 because I raised my hand." 42:02 You know what he said to me, "I hope you won't judge us 42:05 because we didn't." 42:08 I think we're so quick to judge 42:10 but I want to read them with something if I may 42:13 before this time gets apart. 42:16 Because Ellen G White, Testimonies, volume 5, 42:20 page 317 and 18 says this, 42:24 "Praise the Lord 42:25 in the congregation of the people." 42:27 Yes, yes. 42:29 "There is too much formality in our religious services. 42:34 When the church is walking in the light, 42:37 there will ever be cheerful hearty responses 42:43 and words of joyous praise." 42:47 Love it. Love it, yes. 42:48 I think that much of our religious activity 42:52 lacks enthusiastic love for the Lord. 42:56 Yes. What would seem with mere... 42:57 Hearty relationship with the Lord. 42:59 Enthusiastic love. 43:01 None of us want chaos in our church. 43:03 But I cannot stop, 43:06 sometimes when the spirit is really moving on me 43:08 and I'm feeling, I raise my hands 43:11 'cause I can't not. 43:16 And there are times when I just, 43:19 I wish I could just drop to my knees but I... 43:23 But it's true that all the times that, 43:26 you want to and what happens, 43:29 the enemy brings that thought of, you know, 43:32 I can't do this because there's all these people are looking 43:35 and they're going to think whatever. 43:38 And yet... 43:40 And we don't want... We're supposed to be... 43:42 Praise and worship is what we're there for. 43:44 Yeah, it's like you saw this cup, 43:47 and you don't see nothing else. 43:49 This is Christ that we are supposed to be. 43:53 Just Christ. I'm sorry. 43:56 Excuse me, there's one thing, you know, I think 44:00 that Jesus certainly appreciated about Mary 44:03 was is that she was bringing her love to Him 44:09 while He was alive, sharing some of His love, 44:12 you know, He says, "Yes, Nicodemus and Joseph, 44:15 they've provided a place for me after the fact. 44:19 Yes there was this precious, 44:22 this other lady that showed up at the grave 44:25 with her perfumes after the fact. 44:29 But the lesson is, is that she was there 44:33 while He was living. 44:34 And I think it's a lesson for all of us. 44:37 You know, He said, we need to take care 44:39 of our brothers and sisters 44:40 and take care of them while they're living 44:43 rather than, well, we'll take care of, 44:45 you know, after the fact, you know. 44:48 And anyways I was reading in and I really like that. 44:53 Closing chapter of Ellen White's, 44:55 I think we need to open ourselves up 44:56 to worship to receive the Lord 44:58 and not be so constrained by fear or convention. 45:03 And I think as Dee, 45:05 someone said we don't want chaos. 45:06 we don't want bedlam in the church. 45:08 But I think we, if the pendulum is swinging one way, 45:12 it tends to swing a little too much towards conservatism 45:16 and kind of buttoned-down-ism. 45:19 And we need to let go. 45:21 There are some people who, I've heard people say, 45:23 "Hope you didn't mind me saying amen during a ceremony." 45:27 Mind? Please. 45:31 That time, my favorite and I'm just, 45:35 I don't mean anything by this 45:36 but I love to preach at a black church 45:40 because they're going, "Amen! Mercy!" 45:43 And they, as you're preaching 45:46 it draws the anointing out of you. 45:48 It does. 45:49 People are responding and you see this and I love it. 45:54 I just absolutely love it. 45:55 There is something with this call 45:56 and responses just fills your spirit. 45:58 Phrases catching is contagious. It is, it is. 46:01 And you don't want chaos or confusion 46:04 but if it is a sincere worship from you, 46:06 deep in your part, 46:07 you don't have confusion and chaos. 46:09 It is and it is a lifting up in joy. 46:12 It's a lifting each other up in praise. 46:16 One necessity that you're praising the same God. 46:19 If I could say one thing 46:21 and I'm going to get in trouble for saying this. 46:23 That's okay, we're all in trouble. 46:24 When we have praise and worship in our music. 46:28 And sometimes the Lord has just, 46:31 you know, that's what praise and worship is for 46:33 is to plough up the heart, 46:35 to get you ready to receive the seed. 46:38 And somebody stands up there afterwards 46:41 and starts joking around 46:43 or just even reading the bulletin, 46:45 it's like, that moment... 46:48 We have an announcement. I don't like that. 46:50 I don't like the announcements. 46:51 I wish they do announcements before... 46:53 Many times I said to you, 46:55 oh, that was the message was so wonderful. 46:58 And then they came with all that. 47:01 And then saying now, we're gonna do this, 47:03 and whatever, anyway, so like... 47:05 If I had, if I could write the order of worship, 47:08 I would do announcements before praise and worship. 47:13 And don't get up there and start telling me 47:15 a joke afterwards 47:16 because you think you're going to get my attention. 47:19 Because if God's been working on my heart in worship, 47:22 He's got my attention in what you're doing. 47:24 Yes, yes. 47:26 If you're in worship, you want to stay there. 47:27 I agree. 47:29 Gary, if you got something to say, 47:30 you better jump in because... 47:32 We're running out of time. 47:34 Well, it's not in the church service. 47:36 But I think God is wounded 47:38 when we don't show our gratitude 47:40 in words and deeds. 47:42 I found this interesting quote, I'd like to share, you know, 47:46 Simon was quick to condemn. 47:47 Christ is never is. 47:48 And this is an interesting quote, 47:50 "Christ might commission the angels of heaven 47:52 to pour out the vials of wrath on the world full of hypocrisy 47:55 and sin destroying those 47:57 who are filled with hatred to God. 47:59 He might blot this dark spot from His universe 48:02 but He does not. 48:05 This, but He's not. 48:07 He is today standing at the altar of incense 48:10 presenting before God the prayers of those 48:12 who desire his help. 48:14 Who is he that condemneth? 48:15 It is Christ that died 48:16 getting rather that is raised again 48:18 who is even at the right hand of God 48:20 who also makes intercessions for us." 48:23 Romans 832. 48:25 He could wipe us out because we deserve it. 48:27 But He doesn't. He loves us. 48:28 And so my appeal is, you may say, 48:30 I am sinful, very sinful. 48:32 You may be, but the worse you are 48:34 the more you need Jesus. 48:36 He turns no weeping contrite soul away. 48:39 He does not tell to any or any all that He might reveal 48:43 but He by, bid everyone trembling so take courage. 48:47 He will not reject any who comes to Him penitent 48:50 and believing. 48:51 Freely will He pardon all who come 48:53 to the forgiveness of restoration. 48:56 And another quote I couldn't find it but, 49:00 "God's blessing today is a guarantee 49:02 of blessings tomorrow." 49:03 Yes, yes. 49:04 And He loves you and He wants to forgive you today. 49:08 Just go to Him today and ask for that forgiveness. 49:10 Amen. Praise the lord. 49:11 Praise the lord. 49:13 You know, He wants to forgive you and love you. 49:14 And fill you with joy. 49:17 Yes, fill you with the joy of the salvation. 49:20 Quality of life. Yes. 49:21 You know what broke Simon's heart? 49:23 And this is this so wonderful. 49:25 Christ in telling him that parable, 49:28 he realized, had to realize that had Christ wished to, 49:33 he could have exposed him at his own party. 49:36 Tell what the parable is 'cause we didn't actually... 49:38 That's in Luke. Yeah, let me just... 49:41 Start with verse 40... It's in the 40, 44. 49:46 Forty. So that's the difference. 49:48 Satan get you to sin and exposes you. 49:50 Jesus saves you and protects you. 49:53 Yes, yes. 49:55 Yeah, at 41, there was a certain creditor 49:56 who had two debtors. 49:58 One owed 500 denarii the other 50. 50:01 And when they had nothing with which to repay 50:08 he freely forgave them both. 50:09 Tell me, therefore 50:10 which of them will love him more. 50:13 And, of course the, 50:15 it's a rhetorical kind of thing. 50:16 But because the one who was forgiven more would love more. 50:20 But by that he realized, 50:22 Christ knew what was going on his head. 50:26 And he was acting like the 50. 50:27 I think he acts like he had nothing, 50:29 he owned no one anything. 50:30 And she was acting like the one who owed the 500. 50:32 He realized then, He's reading my thoughts. 50:35 He knows what's in my heart. 50:36 And if you wish to, 50:38 He could publish this to this whole gathering. 50:41 But it was the fact and we see this 50:43 in that wonderful book, Desire of Ages 50:45 that Christ kept silent. 50:46 He knew Christ is holding on to a secret. 50:48 That's what broke his heart. 50:50 And see when we see ourselves as a sin as we are, 50:53 the fact is we don't often times take the time 50:56 to see ourselves as Christ sees us 50:59 because we tend to look around, me head's around, 51:01 so I look at, I'm better than Gary. 51:03 I got Dee covered, she's got that past. 51:05 Boo, I'll talk about. 51:07 Okay, so I'm the top one here at the table. 51:09 But I'm not supposed to compare myself 51:10 with any of you. 51:12 I'm supposed to compare myself with Christ. 51:13 And only in doing that do I see myself as I really am 51:17 then I have a lot to worship for, 51:18 a lot to be thankful for 51:20 because I know He has forgiven me much. 51:21 Amen. 51:22 Every individual feels that they understand 51:25 how much they've been forgiven 51:27 when they are a spiritual Christian 51:28 and connected with the Lord. 51:30 Very true. 51:31 That each of us feels exactly the way each of us does 51:33 that we have been forgiven much, everyone. 51:37 And it's a shame that so many times, you know, 51:41 we look at our brothers and sisters 51:43 that have been with the Lord 51:45 and have made a change in their, 51:48 do you see the humility in that 51:50 and then we look at them as such, 51:53 "Oh he's just a goody goody. 51:55 He's trying to be biased." 51:57 And we're not only being wrong, 52:01 but we are really blaspheming God 52:05 in that attitude because... 52:07 God has changed them. Yes. 52:11 And we all go on different routes, 52:15 you know, different routes to come to Christ. 52:21 And He brings us where He knows 52:23 that we need to be brought. 52:27 So it's not for none of us to criticize that 52:31 and put that down 52:32 because what we're doing, we're putting down Christ. 52:35 Amen. 52:36 You know it just occurred to me, 52:38 this was the second alabaster box 52:41 that she'd broken. 52:43 Because, you know, you've heard that song 52:45 broken and poured out to Lord Jesus. 52:48 Just think that at one point when she met Jesus 52:52 and she looked into His eyes. 52:55 And she saw understanding, she saw a real love, 52:59 her heart was broken and poured out for Him. 53:03 I mean, in unreserved love. 53:06 And He recreated, I mean, it's just like our hearts 53:09 that alabaster box needs to be opened up, 53:12 it needs to be broken and poured out for Him. 53:15 Yes. 53:17 What a joy to know that, you know, she came as, 53:22 you know, I think we look at our own past 53:25 because we know ourselves better than anybody else. 53:27 We can be like Paul saying, 53:28 "Lord, I'm the chief of sinners." 53:31 But it is such a joy to know that God will be praised. 53:35 Yeah, but it's just about time 53:37 when do, we are able to do that, 53:39 that Christ gone with All His love. 53:42 Amen. 53:43 And He says, "Child, I love you. 53:46 You are okay now." 53:47 Amen. Amen. 53:49 And He has the power to keep us now. 53:53 Let's run the table. 53:55 We're down to our last minute 53:56 so everybody give me that one or two lines 53:58 and we kind of pull a little bow on this. 54:01 Well, I just like, I just read this earlier. 54:05 And it answers your question right there. 54:08 Mary knew not the full significance 54:10 of her deed of love. 54:11 She could not answer her accuser. 54:12 She could not explain 54:14 why she had chosen that occasion 54:15 for anointing Jesus. 54:17 The Holy Spirit. 54:19 The Holy Spirit had planned for her 54:21 and she had obeyed His promise. 54:23 His promptings. 54:25 Inspiration stoops to give no reason. 54:27 An unseen presence, it speaks to mind and soul, 54:29 and moves the heart to action. 54:31 It's its own justification. 54:33 Amen. Amen. 54:34 Well said. Thank you, Jesus. 54:35 Well said. Shelley? Amen. 54:37 Worship prompted by love and gratitude 54:40 is what Jesus is looking for. 54:42 And the fragrance of a life 54:44 that is lived in obedience to Him. 54:49 Yes, well, I'd say, let's not discourage. 54:54 Let's be totally encouraged 54:57 because Christ wants us to be like He is. 55:01 And He will never leave anything unturned 55:06 to bring us there. 55:07 Amen. 55:09 And when we are there, we are going to really 55:11 experience that joy and that worship 55:15 that He deserves. 55:18 I think He... 55:19 This story just gives hope to everyone. 55:20 Yes. It shows you God's love. 55:24 Not only His love for you but that He has the power. 55:28 I worship a powerful God. Amen. 55:31 And He has enough power to not only save me 55:34 but He has the power to protect me. 55:37 He takes that old life that is so painful 55:40 and He fills you with joy. 55:43 And it's just walking whatever, 55:45 He has a very special path for each person. 55:48 And I think in this story, 55:50 He is showing so many different lives 55:52 in so many different ways 55:53 everyone can see themselves somewhere in this story 55:57 and have redemption 55:59 no matter where you're at or what you're doing. 56:01 Amen. Amen. 56:02 Jesus forgave us much, so we should love much. 56:05 Amen. 56:07 And we should show Him, 56:08 just the way the Bible tells us, 56:10 "But if you love Me, keep My commandments." 56:11 And keeping commandments is showing love to Him 56:14 and then love to those our fellow men. 56:16 Yeah, well done. Well said. 56:18 We are called by Christ 56:20 to be a pathway of grace to others. 56:22 The love that has been shown to us, 56:24 we need to show to others. 56:25 The forgiveness that has been shown to us, 56:27 we need to show to others. 56:29 The patience that Christ has shown to us, 56:32 we need to show it to others. 56:33 And if we would but attempt to exemplify these traits 56:38 how much nicer we would be, how much sweeter we would be, 56:41 how much sweeter the world would be. 56:44 We are told by Ellen White. 56:47 She says, "If we were kind, 56:49 tender, hearted, pitiful, loving, 56:51 there would be 100 sessions to the truth of God 56:55 where now there is only one. 56:57 Sometimes the greatest hindrance 56:59 to individuals coming to the Lord 57:01 are those who are already in the Lord, 57:03 but not living like the Lord and not showing God's love. 57:07 The greatest thing that Christ could say to anyone, 57:09 He said to Mary there in Luke 8:48, 57:15 "Then he said to her, Your sins are forgiven." 57:21 That's Luke 7. 57:22 I'm sorry it's 7.48, yes, Luke 7.48. 57:25 "Your sins are forgiven." 57:28 Nothing better. That's what I want to hear. 57:29 I'm sure that's what everyone wants to hear also. 57:32 Again our time has run out. We'll see you again next time. 57:35 Stay faithful and keep on loving Jesus. 57:38 Amen. |
Revised 2018-10-15