I trust that as the men were singing this morning that you could sing along with them with the absolute confidence and conviction. My hope is Jesus. He is my rock. He is the one on whom I'm depending for the salvation of my soul and to be able to sing that with joy and with confidence, worshipful celebration of the cross of Christ. Man, I'm ready to preach. Can you tell? Take your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter 14. We're going to be looking this morning at the first nine verses. The theological emphasis here is more important to Mark than the chronology of the events. And so we see that what Mark is doing here by placing this account is that he's contrasting the hatred of the religious leaders in verses 1 and 2 with the betrayal of Judas Iscariot in verses 10 and 11. And so I want us to look for a few minutes today at the lessons of the plot The plot that Sanhedrin had to kill Jesus. The lessons of the gift, that's the gift that Mary made. We saw in John chapter 12, Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus is the one that is named specifically there as the one who gave this gift. And then I want you to look with me at the lessons of Christ's response. And I trust your heart will be stirred as mine has been. Your life will be challenged if you are a born again believer. And I encourage you, that if you have not recognized that the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a gift for you, the payment so that you could receive eternal life and the forgiveness of your sin, I pray that you will do so today so that you can sing with the rest of us, my hope is Jesus. And hope is not a maybe, hope is the absolute conviction, the confident expectation based on character and the promises of God. Well, we see here in this passage that there is this counsel of the Sanhedrin before actually what we call the Passion Week, right before Christ's triumphal entry, there is this plot the Sanhedrin is coming up with to kill Jesus. And then we see that Mary annoys Jesus on Friday before the Passion Week and then The meeting to plot, or excuse me, the betrayal, the meeting and the betrayal of Judas Iscariot with the Sanhedrin, or the religious Jewish leaders, happens on Thursday. Christ is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Lord commemorates the Passover, this last supper that he shares with his apostles. So look with me in the first two verses. We look at the lesson of the plot this morning, chapter 14, verses one and two. The Bible says then, after two days was the feast of the Passover and of unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft and put him to death. But they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. So what are the lessons of the plot? Well, one of the things I want you to see is that Sanhedrin already voted to put Jesus to death before his trial. This is not something where all of a sudden somebody comes with what they feel is a legitimate accusation against Jesus and that the betrayal and the stirring up of the crowd is a last minute thing. It is a premeditated murder plot of the Sanhedrin towards the Lord Jesus Christ. The Sanhedrin was not concerned with justice. Look back, if you would, with me. The Bible says that they sought, verse 1, how they might take him by craft or by subtlety. They were not interested in justice. And then third, the Sanhedrin based their plot on the fear of man, not on the fear of God. Look in verse two, but they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. Jerusalem has swelled probably over two million people for this, the Passover and then the Feast of Unleavened Bread, this week of celebration of God's deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. the Passover lamb that is sacrificed whereby we remember the story how that God through Moses warned the people of Israel to slaughter a spotless lamb and to put the blood on the doorposts and the lentil and they were to eat the Passover lamb with the unleavened bread and they were to be dressed ready to leave and they were to observe that there was a requirement And that blood had to be on the doorpost lest the firstborn in that household be killed by the death angel that God set to pass over the land of Egypt. And again, this points forward to Christ, how that the blood of Christ on the cross applied to our lives is that covering, whereby the sentence of eternal death is passed over us. We receive eternal life. Our sins are not only covered, but we are cleansed with the blood of Jesus Christ, so that as Paul said in the book of Romans, there's therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. We rejoice in that. But their plot was not to do it during this week of festival, And yet, I also want you to see that a sovereign God overruled their plans with His. You see, the Bible tells us that when the time was come, God's perfect timing at the exact right moment in history God the Father sent Christ the Son the Holy Spirit overshadowed the Virgin Mary and she Had conceived within her of the Holy Ghost the Lord Jesus Christ and he was born and he lived and again in the fullness of time Christ the sacrifice was given on our behalf so that we could escape eternal death and enjoy eternal life with him forever. Sovereign God overruled their plans, for it was still during that feast of unleavened bread the night of Thursday in which he was betrayed and then crucified on Friday. And so God's sovereignty always overrules the plots of man, and can we not rejoice in that? especially as we may see the persecution of believers around the world as we may feel more of that in our own country as other things and Circumstances seem to be against us it causes us again to look to the sovereignty of God to know that he is in control and that he overrules the plots and the plans and the devices of man and his will shall be accomplished and he will receive the glory and we have the joy of getting to be on his side and being a part of his plan and enjoy that victory all because of his grace and mercy but second of all I want you to see with me the lesson of the gift and before we read the next few verses let me explain that this is not the same event as the sinful woman she also comes and brings an alabaster box and she breaks it and she anoints Jesus with that and she is weeping and she wipes his feet with her hair and In that particular instance, she is worship Lee anticipating the forgiveness of her sins She realizes the mercy and the grace of Jesus Christ and she is worshiping them That's when Simon the Pharisee in whose house Jesus was a guest thought to himself saying If Jesus knew the manner of this woman who touches him Because she was a sinner she was an immoral woman. I And that's when Jesus then talks about the magnitude of forgiveness when he says, Simon, there were two men who owed their master. One owed 50, one owed 500. He frankly forgave them both. Which one do you suppose loved him more? And he said, I suppose the one that he forgave more. And Jesus said, that's exactly right. And that's why this woman is worshiping me because she knows I will forgive her sin. And the point is not that her sin was any worse or any more than Simon's. The point was that she realized the magnitude of her sin. And Simon had yet not apparently come to realize the magnitude of his sin. For all of us stand guilty before God. Our sin account, if it were to be written and stacked, would reach up into the heavens. Our sin against God is of such great magnitude that no man can pay for or earn or any way erase that sin debt and that just announcement of God on man's crime of sin. And that's why it took Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the perfect sinless lamb, who fulfilled completely the law on our behalf and never sinned, so that we could have that forgiveness. And God in his grace and mercy, the Bible tells us in 1 John 1, is just to forgive our sin. He is right. It's the power of the ability and the loving desire to cleanse and to forgive sin to give eternal life If you've not put your faith in him, I encourage you to do that today But this particular account is not that it's not a parallel account to that One of what people call the sinful woman in her worship of the coming death of christ, though It is similar this parallels with john's account in john chapter 12 that this is mary Who anticipating christ's death comes to anoint him? So look, if you would, with me in verse three. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman, we know from John 12, this is Mary, having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and she break the box and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? We'll continue further in just a few minutes, but I want you to see some lessons from this gift. First of all, she gave it without a word and without fanfare. John chapter 11. when Lazarus is dead, Mary and Martha had sent for Jesus. He was preaching across the Jordan River in the wilderness, and they sent a messenger and saying, Lazarus, your friend, the one whom you love, is sick. And it was an urgent plea. Come and heal him before he dies is really what is being implied in that message. Jesus still tarries and teaches and preaches there, Then in his sovereign timing knowing that Lazarus had already died and knowing that God himself would receive Christ and his father would receive the greater glory then he goes to Bethany and As he goes to Bethany Mary Martha goes out and she meets him and she said Lord if thou it's been here My brother had not died and there's a great exchange there between Jesus and Martha But then Martha goes back to Mary and what's Mary doing? She is quietly sitting in the house and She knows Jesus is coming, but she's waiting for him. And Martha says, Jesus wants to see you. Then Mary gets up and she comes to Jesus. And with the anguish of her soul, she falls at his feet in worship and says, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother had not died. That's all she says. And I see here, that Mary, and this happens soon after Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, and Mary comes in knowing that Jesus is going to die as Messiah, the sacrifice. And she comes with this alabaster box Alabaster was stone. It was a stone container, usually with a neck on it. And the ointment of spikenard, that nard, actually comes from, is extracted from a root that is found in the Indies or in India, that area of the world. So it was very expensive. It was very rare. It was worth a year's wage. In other words, it actually could have been actually an heirloom. that they would wait for a person within their family of great honor, and then they would anoint the body of an honored relative who had passed away. This was saved for a very special purpose. This was very expensive. This, having cost a year's wage, was almost like spending your life savings, that kind of an idea. And because it was of alabaster, when the neck of that container was broken, all the contents had to be poured out. It was sealed so that it would keep the integrity of that spitener, which really was more of a perfume. It was not so much an ointment as it was a thick liquid. But once that alabaster box was broken, you could not recap it. The entire contents had to be used. And so, Mary pours it on Jesus commemorating his death. What an incredible gift she gives. But she gave it without a word or fanfare. Spurgeon said, if we could all do more and talk less, it might be a blessing to ourselves at least and perhaps to others. Let us labor in our service for the Lord to be more and more hidden. As much as the proud desire to catch the eye of man, let us endeavor to avoid it. And I must stop and say this, that there are many people here that serve at Marian Baptist Church and you don't see them up here playing an instrument or singing a song. I mean, some of them are in the battle of the babies in the nursery. They endure weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, literally. And they do it joyfully as a ministry so that you can enjoy the preaching of the word of God here. There are others that are serving in capacities. We have a safety team for our protection. We have a safety team here. They help with emergencies and other things like that. You know, they're one of those unsung heroes that you don't see. There are folks that come here and they fix things and they do other things of ministry, either at Marin or for people within our congregation or people that we're trying to reach. You'll never hear of it. But you know what, they do it joyfully and they do it quietly because they're doing it for the glory of the Lord and they're investing His eternal kingdom. And when we see those things, certainly it is appropriate for us to express our gratitude to them, but that's not why they're doing it. but I've been around ministry long enough to know that sometimes there are people who are serving the Lord, and at first it's very faithful, out of love for the Lord, and it's joyful, but after years of ministry, and they continue to endure and faithfully serve, sometimes Satan tries to derail their spirit of loving service for the Lord by saying, I've been doing this for years, and nobody recognizes this. I haven't heard any thank yous. I've not been recognized from the pulpit by the pastor. or something like that, and that's not happened. All right, no one's complained to me about it. All right, haven't heard any rumors of this. I'm just simply saying that Mary did this without any fanfare, without even a word. She didn't explain it. And it's interesting, too, because you'll see that when Judas Iscariot begins to complain and some of the disciples chime in, Mary does not defend herself. She doesn't speak a word. She does it because she loves the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is the first and great commandment? She'll love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. Second of all, she gave an irretractable gift. I already explained a little bit of the value and of the fact that once this was poured out, you could not just pour part of it and then keep the rest. you had to use it all at once. This was an irretractable gift. This was something that was given, not recalling it. And folks, when we surrender ourselves to the Lord as believers and say, Lord, all I am and all I have is always and completely yours. However you want to use me, whatever of mine you have that you want to use for your glory, it is yours. I am willing to spend and be spent for your glory and for the good of my brothers and sisters and for the sake of the gospel. It's an irretractable gift. but Satan tries to sometimes get us to be Indian givers and wanna take some of those things back and kind of renege on some of the promises and the commitments that we have made. Mary does not do that. She gave an irretractable gift. And then third, look at the lesson of the disciples' reaction back in the passage with me. In verse four, there were some that had indignation within themselves, especially Judas Iscariot, and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than 300 pence, a year's worth of wages. It had been given to the poor, and they murmured against her. The harsh reality that we need to face is that sometimes others judge our gifts and service to the Lord is extravagant waste. And so we would be wise not to judge other believers' motives, gifts, and acts of service. I'm just gonna take a little byline here. Moms and dads, don't discourage your kids from giving all their money to the Lord, if that's what they wanna do, to a missionary, or to a Christian camp, or to somebody in need. Certainly, we need to teach wisdom and we need to teach accountability. But you know what, we also need to celebrate and encourage when our children express in a selfless way that they want to give their all to the Lord and to be a blessing to others. We need to encourage our teenagers. to be willing if God would have them to go and to train on the mission field and be a missionary. And no, you're gonna have to fly halfway around the world to see your grandchildren someday, and you won't just be able to have them come over for dinners and all of the family holidays. But should we not? Dedicate ourselves and our children to the Lord and say Lord I give my children With no strings attached and if you want them to be halfway around the world serving you as missionaries And they're not living the quote American dream. You know what they're living a lot better dream Because they're living for eternity and they will be fulfilled and they will be full of joy and God will use their life in Ways that will really count for all of eternity Does it mean a sacrifice on our part sure But let's not hold back Mary gave an irretractable gift. The disciples thought it was a waste. And let me encourage you, even when others say, what a waste, why are you doing that? Don't we live in such a culture today that says, spoil yourself, indulge yourself, you deserve a break and to be spoiled a little bit. And sometimes we always just want to reserve a little bit for us, don't we? May God give us the spirit like Mary that even if we are judged we are still gonna wholeheartedly give ourselves to the Lord But we'd be wise not to judge other believers motives gifts or acts of service Romans 14 forces who art thou that judge us another man's servant to his own master. He standeth or falleth So when you see somebody else that is exuberant and enthusiastic in their service and generous in what they do, going all out and serving the Lord. Don't even in your heart judge their motives because what they're doing and why they're doing it ultimately is something God knows and God will reward or deal with. The gift we know was costly. We already spoke to that, and then Judas Iscariot, his hypical complaint was enjoined by others. But I got a question for you. Where were their gifts? Mary gave a precious gift. But where were theirs? They were criticizing Mary for what she did, but where were their gifts? Either to Jesus or to the poor. And they're saying, this could have been sold for a year's wage, and all that money could have been distributed to the poor. I wonder how much they were giving to the poor of what they had. Bible doesn't say, but it causes me to wonder. And it's interesting because the Bible says in verse four, some had indignation within themselves and said, and that word said is the word to, or excuse, is cousin to the word at the end of verse five, which says, and they murmured against her. So it's kind of the idea is repeated. You know what the word murmur literally means? It literally means to snort like a horse. That's what it means in the Greek. It's used in classical Greek literature to describe that. They're huffing over it. This could, what a waste. They were filled with indignation. The Spirit of the angels kind of glared at Mary. What are you doing this? What are you trying to do, get in good with Jesus? Trying to make us disciples look bad? On and on it goes. How quickly our flesh and how wicked our hearts and deceitful they can be in a moment like that when we have that kind of a response. to an extravagant gift or service that the Lord Jesus Christ receives from a brother or sister in Christ and we see it and have that response, we need to make sure our hearts are right with God. But I want you to see also because There was some ingratitude there. Had the disciples along with Jesus not enjoyed the hospitality of Mary and Martha and Lazarus many times? Don't you find this unusual that they would be so quick to speak against her and to murmur about this and to be angry with her and glare at her when they had enjoyed her hospitality along with Martha and Lazarus so many times? But you know what, it's easy for us sometimes to criticize those who seem to show more love for Jesus than we do. Could that be conviction? And then I want you to see the lessons of Christ's response. Look at verses six to nine. 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 will, ye may do them good. But me ye have not always. She hath done what she could. I love that phrase. I'm gonna explain it in a minute. She has come aforehand to anoint my body to the bearing. Now Jesus is explaining what Mary stays silent about. And you know what, let me tell you something. The Lord can defend you and your testimony and reputation a lot better than you can. And Mary stays silent and Jesus immediately comes to her defense. And he speaks up for her. And look what he says in verse nine. This is so powerful. Verily, truly, I say unto you. In other words, he's saying, as your master teacher, I am saying to you eternal truth and I want you to learn it and don't forget it. Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world this also she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her So what are the lessons of Christ's response first Jesus defended her the other time was when Martha comes in on a huff I'm working in the kitchen and Mary's just sitting here at your feet or tell her to get up and get in the kitchen and help me and And Jesus basically says to Martha, Mary's chosen the better part, and that's not gonna be taken away from her. So Jesus defends her. I will let me encourage you in this you do right because you love God you take a godly stand Not a belligerent stand but a gracious loving firm Stand for the truth and keep doing right no matter the pressure around you and keep serving God and giving to him extravagantly no matter how Misunderstood no matter what kind of accusation you may get no matter what rumors may fly about you and Jesus will defend you too Because he's no respecter of persons Jesus defended her. Jesus saw how troubled she was. She might have started wondering after all whether she had made a mistake. But ultimately, Jesus looks not at the human wisdom of our acts, but at the love to him which prompts them. Mary herself is silent, offers no defense. And so we learn from her that it's not always necessary for us to defend ourselves. Our good actions will speak for themselves. The only thing, as one writer said, that's of importance or is essential is that Jesus approves them. And then Jesus received her extravagant work as good. Jesus said, let her alone. Look at this in verse six. She had brought a good work on me. Jesus states and puts a stamp of approval. They said, it's an extravagant way. Jesus says, no, this is good. Jesus put his stamp of approval. Her noble, her act was noble because she did it for the son of God who is worthy of great sacrifice. And you know, as I began to think on that principle, her gift was noble because she gave it to the Son of God who is worthy of great sacrifice. I began to wonder, what am I sacrificing? And how noble is my gift in worship to the one who is worthy of everything and anything that I can sacrifice to him? Then, Jesus said that she did a good work on me. Kailos is the Greek word here. her extravagant gift Jesus receives as good. Kalos describes a thing not only that is good, but in the Greek, it also has the nuance or the idea of that it is lovely. A thing might be agathos, which is another Greek word for good, but that kind of agathos can be stern, it can be hard, it can be austere. But a thing which is kalos is winsome and lovely, with a certain, as one writer said, with a certain bloom of charm upon it. Jesus said, this is a good, and this is a beautiful act of worship. And Christian, doesn't your heart resonate with mine before the Lord? Lord, I want every act for you to be winsome, to be lovely, and to be beautiful, to be pleasing, to be enjoyable by you. Because it's done out of a heart of love. Giving to the Lord and giving to the poor are both right and should be done. Jesus said, the poor you have with you always. Should we give to the poor? Yes. Can we minister to the poor? Absolutely. But also giving to the poor, though it's right and should be done, is no excuse for not also giving and serving in a sacrificial way our Savior. What the disciples said about the value of the ointment and the need of the poor was perfectly true, but Jesus looks for uncalculating devotion to himself rather than fine wisdom and balanced judgment in giving. Let that sink in a moment. And then I want you to see Mary did the best she could and gave the best she had. Look what Jesus says about her in verse eight. She had done what she could. That literally translates from the Greek, what she had, she did. I think it was Spurgeon who wrote, did Christ pour out his soul into death for us and shall we think anything too precious for him? Do we give him the precious ointment of our best affections? Let us love him with all the heart, though it is common for zeal and affection to be misunderstood and blamed. When the one opportunity came for Mary to express in a sacrificial way her love for Jesus and worship to him, commemorating his death for her sin and for ours, She was not only ready, but she saw it, and she embraced it, and she went to the limit of her ability in that opportunity. In fact, from the way the language is structured, it's implied that she would have done more if she could. Jesus said she has done, she did what she had, or what she had, she did. In other words, if she could have done more, she would have. She went to the fullest extent of the opportunity in worship. commemorating Christ's upcoming death for her and for us. And then Mary was intentionally anticipating the Messiah's foretold sacrifice. Look at this in verse eight. She hath come beforehand to anoint my body to the burying. See, Mary listened to the teaching and the preaching of the disciples. And when Jesus said, as he did to his disciples, and many times to the crowd, especially Those last few months before his crucifixion that he was going to be delivered into the hands of wicked men mocked scourge and crucified She believed it Mary had a different devotion even than the Apostles at that point Instead of debating and denying his death. We have seen this through the book of mark Have we not when Jesus foretells his death? I mean Peter rebukes him and says be that far from you Lord. I And Jesus says to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. You say we're not the things which be of God, but the things which be of man. We see this over and over, that Jesus turns to them and he tells them that he's going to be sacrificed for their sin and die. He turns around and he walks and he's leading them and they're discussing it. And then they get off track and they start discussing who's gonna be greatest in his kingdom. Because they couldn't reconcile the fact that their Messiah, the son of God, was actually going to die. He was not going to conquer Rome and set up his millennial reign on this earth. They couldn't reconcile to the fact that he was going to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 53 in Psalm 22. Spurgeon said nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior Get you close to Christ and carry the remembrance of him about you from day to day and you will do right royal deeds Come let us rise to newness of life for Christ has risen. Let us be united with our crucified Lord in his one great object Let us live and die with him and then every action of our lives will be very beautiful And then verse nine, Mary received honor from Jesus and a legacy in her example instructs many through the ages. Look in verse nine, verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. The disciples longed for that fame and influence. Remember when a couple of the disciples put their mom up to Jesus, hey, Jesus, do me a favor. And Jesus wisely does not say, sure, whatever you want. He says, what is it? And what does she ask? Grant that when you come into your kingdom, my two boys here will sit on either side of you. Those were the two sides of honor and power. When you come into your kingdom, let them be second in command. I don't even care lord, which is second and third Just let them be in second and third because you're in first let them be second and third And the other disciples got mad why because that's where they wanted to be But not mary And that fame and that enduring memorial that they longed for and argued over, Mary found it in a humble, selfless, anonymous sacrifice, giving lovingly to Jesus and serving Him. It's interesting because her good work glorified God. It's been a blessing to the world. Jesus said it would, and it has been. But it's interesting because the word waste in verse four, Judas Iscariot, and then he leads, of course, some of the other disciples, they say, what a waste. That word is spoken of to describe Judas Iscariot when it calls him the son of perdition. Perdition is the word waste. So here's the ironic thing. It was Judas Iscariot who was the waster, not Mary. He wasted his God-given opportunities and eventually his life. Mary, through the simple sacrifice and worship of her Savior, received a lasting legacy and did not waste, but invested it. And this morning, I trust your heart, as mine has been, has challenged me and put enthusiasm in me to be even more serving and more extravagant and to go all out in my serving and my giving to the Lord Jesus Christ and to serving others so that Christ can be magnified and his mission can be accomplished in this world. So what are the admonitions this morning? First, as you make your plans, be mindful of God's sovereignty. Remember the lesson of the plot? that God overrode the plot of the Sanhedrin and Christ was betrayed and crucified during the week of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread because that was God's timing. So as you make your plans, as the Apostle James admonishes the Christians, don't say, well, Whatever we want, we're going to do it whenever we want. We're going to make this plan. We're going to such and such a city and buy and sell a year and get gain and do this and that. And James says, whoa, whoa, whoa. But that you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. And now you're boasting is evil. Why? Because it was presumptuous. And so as you make your plans, be mindful of God's sovereignty, be motivated by your reverence of him. You see, The Sanhedrin wasn't even, they didn't say not during the Passover because this is a time when we worship God and celebrate his deliverance of us as Israelites from Egypt. It's not about the week of worship to them even, let alone having respect for Jesus Christ. of whom none of them could accuse him of sin, though they looked with great scrutiny upon him and couldn't find it. And every one of his claims he fulfilled, and every prophecy of him assigned in the Old Testament he fulfilled. The evidence was right before them, and yet even they had no reverence for him, they didn't even have reverence for the week of the Passover and unleavened bread. They were motivated not to do it, not by that, but because of the fear, man, there's a big crowd, they're easily incited, we're gonna have an out-of-control situation on our hands, let's wait till afterwards, yet God divinely interceded in His perfect timing. In Romans 12 and verse 17, the Bible says that we are to plan virtuously, literally, for the benefit of others in the glory of God. That is the antithesis of what we find in these first two verses in Mark 14, speaking of the Sanhedrin. Next, express your love to Christ through obedience. John 14 and verse 15, Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. You know a way that we can extravagantly show our love to Christ is through implicit obedience to his word. to a soft and tender response to the conviction and the leading of His Holy Spirit, to a humble, teachable response to the rebuke or correction of a brother or sister in Christ who in love and in concern for us comes to us to point out to us that realizing they themselves are not perfect, but are seeking to walk with the Lord, and they want others to walk with the Lord, and when they recognize that need in your life and they come to you, Commit to obedience to whatever the Lord through his word and ministry of his Holy Spirit shows you. Then, do not judge the motives of fellow servants, nor be hindered from serving and giving by the fear of man. Again, this takes the grace of God. This is easier said than done. We must have the grace of God to do it. And then do good to all men and be extravagant in your expression of love to Christ. And finally, live your life for Christ in such a manner that you will leave a lasting legacy. Let's bow our heads. We'll have our pianists come to just play a stanza of an invitation song. You can remain seated. We'll not have a come forward invitation this morning. But I do want in just a moment for you to meditate back through these admonitions. If you'd like to peek up at the screen and see some of those admonitions, that's fine. They can put those back up, you can look at those, you pray through them if you want. But dedicate yourself. to worshiping God in the way that Mary exemplifies for us. And if there's an attitude or response like the disciples that you've had, then repent of it. If there's a lesson from the Sanhedrin where God needs to change the way you plan, the way you think, if you have been reacting to circumstances in life based on the fear of man instead of a reverence for God, get that right with him this morning. And if you'd say, Pastor Todd, I don't have the confidence. Those men were singing about confidence, a rock solid confidence of expectation of eternal life, knowing their sins were forgiven because their faith was in Jesus Christ. I can't say that I have that. Would you just pray that God would shine his light of truth into your understanding and make his truth of salvation clear to you personally? and then ask the Lord to give you the courage after we dismiss our service to find somebody who can sit down with you and take the Bible and show you how you can have eternal life. I'll be back in the connection point at the end of the service. If that's your need, just come back to me and I will be glad to sit down with you and take my Bible, answer your questions and show you the way to salvation so that you can have that rock solid confidence that you know you have eternal life. John writes in 1 John 5, 13, these things have I written unto you that you might know that you have. Eternal life as our musicians begin to play. Would you worship the Lord now in your response?