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cross look like. And so as we begin to embark on the cross and what does it look like, we pray that God would show us exactly what it looks like. And of course, this morning we're going to begin to go through it. And so I doubt if we get to the cross, but that's what we're trying to get to. But I want to show you some things about what the cross looks like, because There are some things before the cross. There are some things after the cross. There are some things to the cross. There are some things for the cross. And there are some things that are on the cross. And all those mean something. If it weren't for the cross, all that would mean nothing. And so we want to look at these things, and we want to see what the Lord has for us, some lessons that we might be able to learn as we look at the cross. Amen? Here in chapter 14, in verse 1, We'll begin reading. It says, After two days was the feast of the Passover and unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft and put him to death. There's the cross, so that's why we're there. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he said it meet, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and she break the box and poured it on his head. There were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, What was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone. Why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye may do to them good, But me, ye have not always. She hath done what she could. She hath come beforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, whosoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for memorial of her." Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. Lord, and I humbly come to you, Father, asking for help. I ask for the anointing and the power of God upon my life. I'm asking you this morning, Lord, that you'd help us to preach in His Spirit, in truth, and God, yet in love. We pray, Father, that you would change hearts and lives. And we pray that today that the cross, Father, would make more of a difference in our lives than ever before. Father, the cross today would not be something of glitter and gold, not something of pleasure, something of of a sign to look upon or stone, dear God, to mark on, dear God. But, Father, the cross. Father, may it be something today, Lord, that we'll never forget. May it etch it in our hearts and our mind, God. May the cross today become an important part of our everyday walk in life. We love You and appreciate You now. We thank You for all You do, in Christ's name. Amen. As we look in Mark chapter 14, we find several things, and what I'd like to talk about this morning is the burial before the cross. The burial before the cross. Now, we're headed toward the cross. We find that in verse 1. The Bible says that the priest, the chief priest and the scribe saw how that they might take him by craft and put him to death. And so we see that the very first verse of chapter 14 of Mark is talking about the cross. There is already a plan and a plot. Now, what is the cross? What should the cross look like? Well, three things before we get into the message. But the first thing I want you to know is that the cross will look like a crime scene. That's what it will look like. A crime scene in the fact, verse 1 says, that they're going to put Him to death. We find that the crime scene is going to be a murder. And we'll find that when we look at the cross, it's a murder. Somebody is put to death. That's according to Scripture. The Bible also says in other passages that they're going to kill him. That's a murder. That's a crime scene to kill someone. That's a crime. And so we find that their idea of the cross is to kill Jesus there, to put him to death. There's another place in the Scripture they're going to slay him. That's what they say. And so we find that a slaying is not something that is what we do just all the time. But I can say, what does the cross look like? It's going to look like a crime scene. Secondly, I notice that the cross is going to look like a crafty scheme. A crafty scheme. It's going to be something, of course, the Scripture says in verse 1, they're going to take him by craft. So when the cross finally gets there and we finally get to the cross, we're going to see that it's some trickery. They had to take place in order for the cross to come to be. It looks like that it's going to be some sort of decoy of some type, some kind. That's what that word craft means. There's going to be some deceit and some guile that's involved. So what is the cross going to look like? Well, it's going to look like a crime scene because they're going to kill, put to death and slay. But it's going to look like a crafty scheme because there's some trickery, some sort of guile and deceit that's taking place. You know, for example, whenever they are going to stand before and put Christ in court and make those who are put in charge against Him, it's a law to never do that at night. But yet they did that with Christ at night, a crafty scheme. Now, always, whenever you did as a criminal and you'd be tried in a court, it was never in the private home. of anybody's all in the proper public place. Remember, he went to campus in a private home. Crafty scheme. Never, ever has anybody ever been put to death without a witness. There was no witness. Crafty scheme. So what does the cross look like? Well, it looks like a crafty scheme, a crime scene. But then thirdly, the cross will look like a concluded subject. What is the concluded subject? Well, the Bible says in verse 1, after two days was the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread. The subject is Passover. The subject is unleavened bread. We find that in Exodus, turn there quickly so we can just sort of get a mindset of what is happening at this time of this order in which when this crucifixion takes place. Exodus chapter 12, and there in verse 12, Exodus chapter 12 and verse 12, talking about the Passover and talking about the Lamb and talking about the sacrifice, because that's what they're talking about. Here it's taking place at this time of this day. And we see in chapter 12 of Exodus, in verse 12, he says, For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord, and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses. where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for memorial, and you shall keep it to a feast to the Lord throughout all your generations. You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever." Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7. Keep your place there in Mark. We'll come right back. And so he finds that in Exodus, God says that I'm going to take blood and I'm going to apply it above the door. And when I see the blood, I'm going to pass over you. You'll not be affected by the plagues nor by the judgment. He said, and then I want you to keep this as a memorial for all generations. So we're talking about a completed subject. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7. gives us a clear understanding. It says there in chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians, "...purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened." Look at this now, "...for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." So what does the cross look like? The cross looks like a concluded subject. For all those years was Passover, all those years of unleavened bread, then all of a sudden the cross. The cross was Christ, the Lamb of God, the sacrifice of the Lord. And only today can the blood of the Lamb make a difference in your life. Whenever God looks upon your life, the only way that you'll not find yourself in the judgment, you'll find yourself not going to hell, eternal damnation, is if the blood of the Lamb is on your account. Amen? If you have trusted the blood to give you forgiveness today. As you stand before God, God's not going to look at anything, but when He sees the blood, He'll pass over you. Amen? And so we find a concluded subject on the cross, for that's where the shedding blood of the Lamb of God, the sacrifice was made. Oh, that's what the cross looks like. But in order to get to the cross, we've got to find the burial before the cross. That's what I want to preach on this morning, is the burial before the cross. Now look at verse 8 of chapter 14, and it says, the last portion of the scripture, she has come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. What does that mean? That means to you and I that there was a lady, a woman, and it doesn't give her name here, but it does give her name in other passages. Her name is Mary. Not the mother of Jesus, but Mary. The sister of Martha and the sister of Lazarus. Amen? And so we find that this one Mary, I'm going to call her a woman, because the Bible doesn't give the name here, but it does in other Gospels, that her name is Mary, and she has come to Jesus, and Jesus has recognized it. He said to her, He said to us, that she has come beforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Now that's interesting this morning. He's not at the cross. He's fixing to go to the cross and he's fixing to conclude the subject, amen, of Passover. And he's fixing to go to the crime scene, he's fixing to go to that scheme, that crafty scheme, but yet he's not there. And yet she comes, nobody else, I don't see anybody else doing what she's doing. And so we find that this woman, a forehand, meaning before he gets to the cross, is going to anoint him in burying. Now we find that that anointing after death is appropriate. We can go back into Mark, Luke, John, Matthew. and find that after Jesus was buried, and after Jesus has died, and the body was taken, and as the body was taken, they wrapped Him up and they anointed Him with spices and with ointments, and that's what they do those days. So that's a normal thing. But Mary is fixing to anoint Jesus, or did anoint Jesus, before His death. Pretty interesting, isn't it? But it would not happen if it wasn't for the cross. So we've got to look at the cross, and what does the cross look like? Well, there's a bearing before the cross. What does that mean to you and I, though? That means a lot to you and I. A man will show you. I want you to notice, number one, concerning this woman, I want you to notice the exposition of her heart. What did her heart exhibit? What is it in her heart bring forth. What did it show? It showed her love. That's what it brought forth. It showed her love because, see, she wanted to anoint Jesus. She wanted to show her love towards Jesus when He was alive. Amen? And so while Jesus was alive, she came forth and she anointed Him before He died so that He would understand and know that Him and her, that she was one that loved Him so much and had so much love towards Jesus that whenever she would come forth and she came and she anointed Him, she would put oil upon His head and Jesus recognized that and she exhibited a love like nobody else exhibited love. Amen? This is important now. Stay with me. But knowing that she showed her love, that she wanted to do it while he was alive so that he would know. Isn't that the way we ought to do things? How many times do we find after somebody dies, we fall in love with them? Why is it after somebody dies, we sit back and say, boy, I sure wish I spent more time with them? Why is it after somebody dies and they're off the scene, you say, I tell you, I sure miss them? And while they were living, and while they were here, you didn't go by and see them, you didn't go by and talk to them, you didn't go by and visit them, you didn't go by and love them, you didn't go by and hug their neck, you didn't go by and see them and tell them hello, but yet when they're dying, you're over here grieving because you wish you'd have done more than what you've done. Why? If you really love somebody, love them while they're living. Loving while they're dead ain't going to do anything. If you got somebody today that you can love, you better love them. And Fred, if you can be loved today, if you're lovable today, then let somebody love you while you're living. Amen. Number two, I want you to know, it's going to show her love because she wanted to anoint him while he was alive. But it signified her love. that He was about His death. Amen? Her love was that she wanted to let Him know that I know that you're going to the cross. I know that because I'm fixing to bury you. I know it. It signified her love. And you know what? That's what love is this morning, when you come to the grips of just knowing some truth. Amen? Sometimes we live in such a lie. Sometimes we live in a fairyland. Sometimes we live in a world that don't exist. Amen? And friends, she comes to the realization that her Lord, that her God, that her Savior is going to the cross of Calvary. And before He gets there, she wants to show Him and signify to Him of all that she has within herself that she's going to anoint Him to let Him know that I know what you're fixing to do for me. I want you to know that. By the way, do you see anybody else doing this? All through the Gospels, there's nobody else that's done this but Mary. Oh, she loves the Lord. She loves Jesus. Hey, did I tell you something else that signifies her love? It's that knowing she wants to do it while he's alive because it's about his death. But she wants to know, she wants him to know that I accept your cross. That's why I'm burying you with this anointment, because I want you to know that I've accepted your death. I mean, I'm not doubting it. I'm not trying to put it out of my mind. I'm not trying to run from it. I'm not mad at those who schemed you. I'm not mad at those who murdered you. I'm just glad and happy. I'm letting you know by the way of me anointing you before the cross, that to let you know that I know it, that you're going to die for me, but I want you to know that I accept it. I'm in agreement with it. Me and you are on the same page. Hallelujah this morning. Wouldn't it be to God that you and I come to the conclusion in our lives towards Jesus and the cross that we just accept it? Stop trying to find something else better than that. Stop trying to find somebody else who's going to do that for you. Stop trying to look around and find another place and another person and another sacrifice and another Christ and another Savior. There's been one and one alone. Just let Him know it and accept it today. That's what Mary did. She's not looking for something else. She says, I found Him. My Rabboni. That's who I found. Oh, I'll tell you, thirdly, she's going to bury Him before He gets to the cross because she wants her love to be signified that she appreciates it. Now, she only knows it and she's accepting it, but she's letting Jesus know that I appreciate your death. I wonder how many in this room today have told Jesus, I appreciate your death. Huh? Oh, I know, I know. You're waiting to see Him. I know you're waiting until you die. And you're waiting until you stand up before Jesus and looking straight in the eyes. And I know what your mind is. I'm just going to grab Him and hug Him. And I'm going to kiss Him on the face. And I'm going to tell Him, Oh, I appreciate you dying on the cross for me. What if you don't get that opportunity? You've got nowhere in the Bible It gives you that offer or that opportunity to do that. I don't find that in there. I don't find it at all where you're going to stand up and kiss Him on the cheek. I do find that if He's going to wipe tears off your face, I see that. I don't see anywhere where you're going to say anything. I see that He's saying everything. So if there's going to be a time when your love is going to signify about the cross, you better bid today! You better let Him know that you know the cross. And you better let Him know that you appreciate the cross. And you better let Him know that you accept the cross. For that's what you need to do, as Mary did. Hallelujah! Now she'll be as excited as I am about this thing. Man, I won my first point. I've got like ten points. I don't know if I'm going to be able to last today. Boy, I see that she has. exposition of her heart. I mean, she's just letting this thing reveal by pouring an ointment upon him. And Jesus says that she's done it for his bearing. I want to show you number two, the exhaustion of her heart. She's exhausted her heart. I want you to notice that there in verse eight, that Jesus says she has done what she could. I mean, listen, friend, she's exhausted everything within her. to the cross. How many friends, she has come to the place in her life where she has done what she could. My question to you this morning is, is have you done what you could? Have you done? Have you read all that you can read? Have you come to church all that you can come to church? Are there services that you're not coming to that you could come to? Have you prayed all you could pray? Have you given to Jesus all your heart that you've got to give? Have you done what you could today? Have you witnessed all? And y'all said, well, let go. And I said, have you done what you could? And you went. And I'm like, oh, no, no, no. But she did all she could. Because, see, Jesus is headed for the cross. There's going to be no time for Mary coming to Jesus and saying anything to her and doing anything to him. And so there's no time. Once he leaves this place, he's going to be betrayed. And once he's betrayed, he's going to be led away. And once he's led away, he's going to be tried. And once he's tried, he's going to carry his cross. And once he carries his cross, he's going to be on the cross. He's going to die, and three days later, He's going to rise, He's going to ascend, He's going to come back to the apostles, and then He's going to go on to heaven. Amen? And so there's no more time. So what Jesus was saying to us about Mary, is that Mary, at this moment of her life, at this time where we're sitting right now, she did all that she could. And I'm telling you, what God could do with anybody in this room, if He would right now, at this day, at this time, Do all that you can do. What God can do with that. We do all we can do with time away at the park. We do all we can do out there on vacations. And we do all that we can do with all the money that we've got. But I wonder how many and how much Are we exhausting our hearts toward Christ today? Do you love your wife more than you love Christ? Do you love your children more than you love Christ? Do you love yourself more than you love Christ? Do you love your career, and do you love your money, and do you love what you have in the future planned for you than the Christ? exhausted her heart. And by doing that, she gave, or she done all that she could do. That reminds me of a little widow woman. She had only two wives. The Bible says Jesus said that she gave more than those that gave more than she gave. But God said she gave more because she gave all that she had. Paul, I remind myself, he said, I've been spent. Paul, great missionary, great man of God, wrote over 13 books in the New Testament. He said, I've been spent. I wonder today, how many of us can look to God in the way of a testimony and say, God, I've been spent for the cause of Christ. I am addicted to the ministry. But Lord, I have given all to You. Lord, I have not done at all but to help back anything. I've completely exhausted my heart toward God. That's what Mary did. Don't you think there's a need for that? I believe there'd be probably more people saved. I believe that probably our churches would grow. I believe there'd be a difference in our spirit at church. I believe there'd be power in our preaching. Oh, I believe the day that there'd be people flocking and looking and running after what you are and what you do and say, listen, whatever you got in you, I won't. Because you did all that you could. I believe there's going to be many tears at the end of the day when we stand before the Lord that we didn't do all that we could. We just got by that by the skin of our teeth. We just took the least resistant. Oh, if I've got to pray, then I'll pray just a little. If I've got to read, I'll read just one verse. Oh, if I've got to tell somebody about Jesus, I'll send them a tract. If I've got to come to church, I'll just come on Sunday morning. I just do very whatever I need to do to get by." But she exhausted her heart. She did with all her ability. She did with all her capabilities. Thirdly, this morning, nor do I notice that she was exhibiting of her heart, but she is exhausting of her heart by the excitement of her heart. What was it that she, in the way of excitement, would take that ointment And poured on the head of Jesus. We're looking at verse 6 and verse 7. Jesus said, let her alone. Why trouble you her? She has brought a good work on me. Me. You know what her excitement was? It was about me. Me. Jesus is speaking now. Jesus. That's what her excitement was. The excitement of her heart was me. She had brought a good work on me. In other words, to Mary, it was all about Jesus. That's all it was about. It's all about Jesus, completely, 100%. It's about Jesus. I'm going to anoint Him before He dies because of Him. I'm going to accept it, and I'm going to allow it, and I'm going to appreciate it because of Him. I'm going to do what I'm going to do because of Him. And Jesus recognized it. He said, That good work that she's done, she's done it on Me. And so what about Mary? Mary said, My excitement about what I'm doing is because of Jesus. Are you at church today because of Jesus? Will you come back tonight because of Jesus? Will you get up in the morning and live right because of Jesus? Will you confess your sin today because of Jesus? Will you pray for others because of Jesus? I just wondered today. I've asked Brother Jimmy this morning, and I'm asking you. We had a family come last Sunday. Y'all remember them? The name was Katie and Derek, wasn't it? My question to you is, did you pray that they'd come back this morning? Don't raise your hand. Did you pray they'd come back? That makes my point. See, when it's about Jesus, you'll pray for them to come back. Because it's about Jesus. Amen! Yeah! See, when it's about you, that's all you pray about. See, when it's about you, it's all you think about. See, when it's about you, it's how you feel and what you're doing and how you're doing and what time you've got and what time you don't have and all the scheduling you've got and all that. But when it's about Jesus, you'll have excitement. That's why I see a lot of people come in, and they're down and out, and they're displaced, and they're disconnected. And you say, what's wrong with them, Brother Larry? What's wrong with us today? How come we're not excited about the things of God? Because it's not about Jesus! It's about everything else. But to Mary, it's about Jesus. That's what Jesus said. That good work was done on Him. He said to them, in another place in the Scripture, He said, listen, He said, when you gave them a drink of water, you gave Me a drink of water. When you visited them in the hospital, then you visited Me. When you went to the prisons and saw them, you saw Me. So, Fred, all I'm saying today is the work of the ministry in living a Christian life is about Jesus and Jesus alone. She was excited. She was so excited, she poured ointment on His head. Now why? Because it was a good work because of Jesus. I know secondly, the Bible says in verse 7, For you have the poor with you always, and whatsoever you will may do them good. But me, you have not always. Once again, Jesus is talking about Him. And why does she have excitement of heart? Because she is about Jesus. Amen? About Jesus. And fourthly, don't you notice the encouragement of her heart? Now look at verses 3 through 9. It says, And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and she broke the box and poured it on his head. There were some that had ignomination within themselves and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence and have given to the poor, and they murmured against her. Verse 6 said, and Jesus said, Let her alone. Why trouble ye her? But you want to live in this life looking to the cross? You want God to defend you? And you want God to look after you? And you want God to protect you? And you want God to speak of you? Friend, you find yourself loving and serving Jesus. I'm going to tell you right now. He says, if anyone offends one of my little ones, it's better than a millstone. They'd be tied around their neck and thrown into the middle of the lake. You're not going to get away offending one of Christ's. You might think you hurt my feelings. You might think you hurt other feelings who are Christians today. But someday, buddy, it's coming back to you. And what that man saith, you shall so reap. God will not be mocked. Then they're saying these things about this Mary. They're saying, listen, Mary. He said, boy, what a waste you're doing. That could have been to the poor. And boy, I tell you, Mary, you absolutely messed up this time. And Jesus said, leave her alone. I like it when God speaks to others who are trying to rip me and trying to straighten me out because of my service to the Lord or my preaching of the gospel or living a life that God would have me to live. And they're critics of me. I love it when God says, let them alone. Oh, but I have to be focused on Him, not on me. But the encouragement of her heart was when Jesus said, let her alone while I trouble her. I want you to notice in verse three, her affection for Jesus. That's why Jesus said, let her alone. What is that affection? Well, the Bible says that she took that precious ointment, that precious spikener, and she broke the box and poured it on his head. That was the affection she had for Jesus. Amen. I mean, it was precious. It was expensive. There was people of that day just don't have that kind of box hanging around to go break open and put on somebody's head. That was something of someone who had money, and we feel like, or I feel like, after reading that Martha and Mary and Lazarus was probably a wealthy family, and they had money. And boy, that money she had, and all she had at that point, was that she had the most priceless thing in her life, the most valuable thing of her life, and she said, I'm going to pour it upon the head of my Savior. I've got affection for Him. And that's why Jesus said, Let her alone. Leave her alone. Why trouble her? Because she had affection for Jesus. Number two, her assessment of Jesus. The Bible says in verse 4 and verse 5, that there were some who had ignomination. That means hatred. That means some bitterness, some anger. They said, within themselves. And said, why was this waste of the ointment made? It could have been sold for more than 300 pence and given to the poor. And they murmured against her. What was all about? Well, her assessment of Jesus. To others, that was waste. But to her, that was valuable. See, her assessment of Jesus was, I'm willing to give my most precious, my most valuable, my most costly, What I have that is of the most expense, and I'm willing to break the box and pour it over the head of Jesus. I'm willing to break my life and pour it on Jesus. I am willing to break my family, to break my career, to break my life, my future, whatever it is in my life, I'm ready and want to, and my assessment of it is I'm going to pour it all out on Christ. Anything that's valuable, anything that's important, anything that means something to me, like give my wife to God, and give my children to God, and give my money to God, to give my future to God, to give my soul to God, I'm going to pour out on them. And Jesus said, leave her alone. She has a high assessment of me. Now, the world says it's waste. The world says that I give tithes. It's a waste. The world says I come preach every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night is a waste. The world says that all my life of not going out and doing this or doing that or doing this or doing that is a waste. I am wasting my life. I've had people tell me that verbally in front of my face to my ears that I am living a wasteful life. Friend, when you got that assessment, That whatever you've got that's worth value, that means a lot to you. And you just break it open. And you pour it out on Him. Others around you are going to call it waste. But it's to you it's not, brother. Whoo! I don't know if everybody's getting it this morning. I just don't know. To some disciples, it was waste. To some believers, it's waste. All I want you to know, it's not only her affection for Jesus and as she poured it, her assessment of Jesus that it wasn't waste. Her appreciation for Jesus, the Bible, Jesus said it was a good work. Man, you want to do a good work? Some people say, go feed the poor. That's a good work. No, that's not a good work. Some people say, well, you know, you give to the elderly. Well, that's not necessarily good work. It's work, and it's good. But what Jesus considers a good work is whenever you do whatever you do for Him. In other words, if you give a lot of money to the Red Cross so that you can get a tax at the end of the year. In other words, this morning if you're giving some time, Because at the end of the year, you need a write-off. There's something wrong with that. I mean, if you go to your neighbor, and you go out and do this and do that, and you be kind and gracious to everybody around you, because that really builds up your self-esteem, and you really get some confidence, and you feel like, man, that you really got something going on in your life. Man, listen, I'll tell you what that means. That's not a good work. Good work is what you do on Jesus. That's a good word. If you go out there to Salvation Army, and you're doing it for Jesus, and you're doing it because of Jesus, you're doing it because of the love of Jesus in your heart, it constrains me. Hey friend, Jesus desires that to say a good word. Oh, her appreciation, Jesus said it was a good word. Oh, her announcement by Jesus. I want you to notice this in verse 9. He said, Verily I say unto you, whosoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken for her memorial. Man, what an announcement that was made. In other words, anything and everything that you do for Jesus will always be remembered. Have you ever done anything in your life for somebody? And they already forgot it? Huh? I mean, there's constantly people that I'm talking to. And I tell them a story, and I call them up two days later, and they said, uh, hey, how about this? I said, I've already told you about that. Well, I forgot. I know my age, and people I talk to are probably a little older than me, and that might be the course we're headed to. But you know, you've done things for people, and they don't remember. The friend, what she did, will always be remembered. And what you do for Jesus will be remembered. I'll tell you the second thing, it will never be forgotten. I'll tell you this this morning, honestly. As I can go back, and I can look at some folks there, I came out of Parkwood Baptist Church, And there's another church, Prairie Garden Baptist Church, that I went to where I met Debbie at. And then prior to that, I went to another church there on Westfield. And it was Bible Baptist Church. And I can look back, and I know two or three people of each one of those churches that just did a good work for God. They loved Jesus. And I can go all the way back to my age of 15 when I first got baptized. I wasn't saved, but got baptized. And people began to be recognized with my eyes. They're always loving Jesus. They're just adulting Jesus. And I'll never forget them. But there's hundreds, maybe thousands, at all three of those churches, and including this church, and all the sixteen years of seeing people come in and come out, that I don't remember them, I can't think of them, but I can remember those who love Jesus. Never forgotten. Always remembered. Oh, I'm telling you, she was one to always be mentioned, Jesus said. Always to be mentioned. To be lasting as the gospel, as long as the gospel is going being said, as long as the gospel is being preached, those, as Mary, will always be heard of. Oh, can I say, the experience of her heart. Verse 8. She hath done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint my body to the burying. You know what her experience of the heart was and why she did what she did to Jesus? Bury Him before His death because of her reality of her salvation. I'm just saying this morning, when you finally come to the place of reality of salvation, you will do the same with Jesus. He'll be everything. You come to the reality of salvation. Why I see people come and go? Why I see people live so dull and live so far away? It's because their love and their rightly understanding and their reality that Jesus is real is not in their lives. So you can't skip and you can't miss and you can't go and you can't do without. when Jesus is reality in your heart. The reality of her salvation, she had to bury Him before He died. Not only the reality of her salvation, but I know the experience of her heart was her rejoicing of her Savior. I mean, she had opportunity before He went to the cross to rejoice with Him. To have some fellowship with Him. To do something for Jesus that Jesus would rejoice in. Friend, that's what it is when you experience your heart because of that relationship with Christ. That your life is about rejoicing with Jesus. You say, well, Larry, I've got a hard marriage. You can rejoice with Jesus. I've got some rebellious children. Listen, there's rejoicing with Jesus. But Larry, I'm a poor as Job. Rejoicing with Jesus. Larry, I'm sick. I'm hurt. I don't feel good. I've seen a guy down to jail. He carried, he carried a, uh, uh, he had a, uh, uh, man, what is that called? When you got to go a, uh, dialysis, he carried the dialysis on him. And he was carried, carried, carried like a little satchel filled man, all day long. He was, he had to go like two times a week, and then three times a week, then five times a week. But he wanted to go to jail so bad, he used to be the chaplain down at Hart Harris County Jail. He used to go there Thursdays, every Thursday on the seventh floor. And he would come and get me, and he would, he would walk like that, because this bag, And then he had all these little tubes and stuff going in. And as soon as we get in the elevator, hallelujah, praise God, Brother Larry, I'm glad you're here. I'm ready for you to preach. I've been praying for you all morning that somebody gets saved in the jailhouse. Man, by the time I got to the seventh man, I was in revival. Them poor guys, I preached to them. I mean, listen, it was unbelievable. We was shouting and we was running. Back in those days, I had lots of energy. And boy, it was all on in that prison. I mean, they told me one time, they said, don't wear a tie like that because they're going to choke you. We get to preaching in there. They get to shouting. They get to fighting. One guy over here says, I'm going to kill the preacher. Two other guys said, you shut up and sit down. I'm going to kill you. I'm in the jail, brother, and the doors are closed and another door is closed and nobody with a gun in sight. That guy's going to kill me. Two other guys are going to kill him for trying to kill me. Now I'm preaching the gospel in the jail. He got on. But how did he get all that? I believe because that brother there, that he could have stayed home easily, and he could have quit easily. But friend, what he'd done was he came on to the jail, and prayed me on into that cell, and prayed on me as I was preaching, and prayed on me until me come back there. And friend, he was an encourager to my heart. Why? Because everything he spoke was of Jesus! It wasn't about him. Or his experience of heart. Friend, he's rejoicing with the Savior. Lastly, the resolve of her soul. And man, when she come, I could just imagine her taking that anointment, that spikener, preciousness in. It was a box. Now, she wasn't invited into this home. But in these days, the home was a little different than your home. It's usually an open pavilion type of thing, and they all sit underneath this little canopy. And what happens was, when you go eat at Simon's house, Jesus was there, of course, and there were people around. They're not invited to eat. They're not going to eat. But they're standing around. And they're just watching. It's very unusual for a woman to walk in in a supper where there's men. You don't do that them days. They don't take that too kindly. It's sort of like Sharia law for you that are on the Muslims bandwagon. And by the way, I'm fixing to preach a series on Muslims. Boy, it's something you might want to hear. So, it's going to be called, What Does Islam Look Like? I just want to educate our church and let our church understand where we're headed and why we're headed that way. Where did all this begin and where did all this start? It didn't start yesterday, I promise you. It might end tomorrow, but it didn't start. Anyway, I don't know how I got off on that. As we think about this thought, about this life, about Mary, what she did for Jesus, and I can just imagine her coming in with that box. She wasn't worried about anything or anyone. All she was focused on was Jesus. I'm resolved with Jesus. She walks right in there, just like she had good sense. She broke that box. She adorned that on top of his head as it just flowed down. Now, there's another scripture that describes more detail what happened there. She took her hair. You read that before. She took her tears. She took her hands. And buddy, it was just soft and kind and sweet. She poured it upon Him. One of the apostles was Judas. By the way, tonight I'm going to preach on the betrayal to the cross. I hope you come back and hear that. Judas was one who said, that's a waste. That's a waste. We could have sold that for 300 pence and given it to the poor. She wasn't hearing none of that. She was resolved to bury her Savior before he got to the cross. A few more words. It's coming today, church, when you're not going to be able to come here. Not because of political, not because of military. Because you're just too old. Because you had a stroke. Because you're diseased. We're all not going to be able to come here forever. I hope you know that. There's coming a day when you're not able to read your Bible because your eyesight's gone. There's going to come a day when you're not able to get down and pray on your knees because you can't get back up. You're not getting younger. You're not getting healthier. How much longer are we going to keep on doing status quo and not just do all that we can? When are we going to come and anoint Jesus and break open our box and pour it out on Him? Why we can't? There's no honor in when I come to visit you or when you come visit me in a hospital or a nursing home or a rest place. You say to me, Brother Larry, man, years ago we really did it, didn't we? There's no honor in that. The honor is this, Brother Larry, I went out serving, breaking the box of ointment over Jesus, didn't I? I died doing it. I can't do no more, but it ain't because I quit. It's because He took me out of service. I poured that ointment on Him because He's Savior. All I'm trying to get you to see this morning, all that you do for Jesus will never be forgotten. But if you're going to do something for Jesus, you've got to do it now. Because there's some day when you can't do what you can. Stand to our feet, our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. I'm talking about Ecclesiastes chapter 12. I'm talking about people who have eyes they can't see now because of age, the ears they can't hear because of deafness. We're all going there. But right now, each one of us have abilities and capabilities of serving and living for Jesus right now. I wonder if Jesus means that much to you today. that you would bury Him as He went to the cross with the ointment of preciousness that you have, whatever valuable stuff you have, whatever you've got that you can pour on Him. Let go so that He may be glorified and He may be honored in your life. Oh, listen, Mary, she revealed a love for Jesus. How about you? The same one verse.
What Does The Cross Look Like? Pt 1
Serie Images Of The Church
The cross and crucifixion of Jesus Christ was nothing short of a crime scene, perpetrated by a crafty scheme for a pre-meditated murder.
ID kazania | 62214124697 |
Czas trwania | 52:05 |
Data | |
Kategoria | Niedziela - AM |
Tekst biblijny | Ocena 14:1-9 |
Język | angielski |
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