Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / Mary of Bethany: A Model of Worship | Mark 14:1-9 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

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Mary of Bethany: A Model of Worship | Mark 14:1-9 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  You know, there's an interesting passage in the book of Hebrews,
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  chapter 12, which is not our text, but I just want to remind
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  you of this verse where we're told to offer up to the Lord
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  acceptable worship for we have received a Kingdom that cannot
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  be shaken. You're part of that Kingdom.
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  If you're in Christ, you're, you're experiencing a taste of
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  that in this very room that while everything around us is
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  shaking, you've been adopted and you have inherited a Kingdom
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  that cannot be moved. You're part of a program, a
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  cause, a hope that can never be taken from you.
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  I just love to know that I have a future that is secure.
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  And so do you. If Christ Jesus is your master,
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  and if He's not your master today, my hope is that after you
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  hear about Him, you would not wait a moment before you bend
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  the knee and give yourself to Him and believer if you do know
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  Him, but maybe your heart has grown cold over the past few
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  days or weeks. My prayers that this passage
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  that we will study will warm it again and you will find yourself
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  at His feet. So turn with me to Mark chapter
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  14 and our main focus is going to be the first 9 verses, but I
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  want to read the 1st 11 verses just to have a wider
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  understanding of what is taking place here.
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  Mark 14 beginning in verse one. And here's what the Word of God
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  says. It was now two days before the
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  Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief
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  priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by
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  stealth and kill him, for they said not during the feast, lest
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  there be an uproar from the people.
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  And while he was at Bethany, in the House of Simon the Leper, as
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  he was reclining a table, a woman came with an alabaster
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  flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the
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  flask and poured it over his head.
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  There were some who said to themselves indignantly, Why was
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  this ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have
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  been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor.
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  And they scolded her. But Jesus said, leave her alone.
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  Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing
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  to me. For you always have the poor
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  with you, and whenever you want you can do good for them, but
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  you will not always have me. She has done what she could.
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  She has anointed my body beforehand for burial.
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  And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the
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  whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.
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  Then Judas Iscariot, who is one of the 12, went to the chief
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  priests in order to betray him to them.
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  And when they had heard it, they were glad and promised to give
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  him money, and he sought an opportunity to betray him.
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  Lord, I'm fully convinced that unless you help take these
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  truths and these insights and wrap them in your power, the
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  effect of what this message is intended to produce in our lives
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  will not be accomplished. So I ask you, with complete
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  dependency and the presence of your people, with your people,
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  we ask you, touch our hearts. You've designed this truth.
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  You have preserved this testimony to do that, and so we
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  pray that You would assist the delivery of this word with the
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  grace that would minister to the innermost parts of who we are.
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  This is our heart. Cry together.
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  And so, Lord, whatever weakness is on this platform, may you
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  cover it with your power and may we experience that power
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  together. In Jesus name we pray.
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  Amen. In the plain reading of this
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  passage, we see here that Mary's beautiful act of devotion, and
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  you're not told it's Mary here, but you're going to find out it
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  is Mary. That this displaying this
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  demonstration of love being lavished upon Christ is
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  surrounded by two other texts that are meant to describe the
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  plot to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Did you catch that? Look again at verse one and two.
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  I won't read it, but just your eyes can catch it.
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  We read here about how the chief and the scribes, the chief
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  priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest them.
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  And then we go into Mary giving her heart over to the Lord.
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  And then at the end of that scene, you look at verse 10 and
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  what do you read? Then Judas Iscariot, who's one
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  of the 12, visited the chief priest to plan to betray him.
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  This is not accidental. This is intentional.
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  And what you have here is Mark trying to highlight this woman's
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  exemplary type of devotion by surrounding it with this tragic
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  disloyalty and deception on the part of the chief leaders and
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  Judas. And this is one example among
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  many, which is a useful reminder for us that not all biblical
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  authors were strictly bound to adhering to this chronological
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  timeline of describing events. Mark here and and other other
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  authors from time to time will actually organize their accounts
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  thematically. And when they try to convey a
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  theme or want to try to teach a lesson with a theme, they will
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  even go to the point of putting the order of things in different
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  places. And why that's important is this
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  is an ancient practice and this is something that you and I have
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  to understand because people will kind of look at the Gospels
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  and say, well, this contradicts that.
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  And, and it's not, it's not a contradiction.
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  It's because back then there was this kind of habit of writing in
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  a way in which they weren't strictly adhering to this kind
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  of timeline of events. And more importantly, this is
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  the Holy Spirit inspiring this for us.
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  And So what you have here just in the overview of the text is
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  you have the structure of the Scripture here highlighting and
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  contrasting true devotion with terrible disloyalty.
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  And if the structure of the Scripture can speak to us in
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  itself, how much more the substance of it?
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  And so you and I have to pull our chairs in a little deeper
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  because we're going to prepare to feast on what it is that the
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  Holy Spirit wants to say between these verses.
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  And so let's look at verse one and two again.
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  We read here that in these two verses in the introductory part
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  of this chapter, that the chief priests and the scribes were
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  seeking how to arrest them by stealth and kill him.
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  They've reached the boiling point.
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  Enough is enough. He's embarrassed us enough.
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  He's winning too many people already.
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  We have to come up with a plan to destroy this Jesus of
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  Nazareth. And this came after the Lord
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  concluded his teachings about the end of the world and his
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  triumphant return to the earth. He's wrapping up and he already
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  has already. And we find him now dining at
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  the house being hosted by some of his followers.
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  And the person who owned this house was Simon the Leper.
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  He's an interesting character that we can't spend too much
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  time on. Obviously, he's not a leper at
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  this point. He must have been healed because
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  a leper can't host people at his house.
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  But here he is with Christ, the one who changed his life surely,
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  And others who are going to find out are in the presence of Jesus
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  as well. And when you read these verses,
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  you almost get the impression. It's a false impression that
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  while Christ is being treated and loved and adored and
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  honored, he is unknowingly being plotted against by his enemies.
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  And that is not the case at all. Christ is not absent minded of
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  what's taking place behind the scenes and the only way that you
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  can capture that truth is when you go to Matthews parallel
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  account of the same teaching. So go to Matthew 26 and I want
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  you to look at the first few verses for you to see the full
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  picture here of what's taking place with Christ.
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  So let me remind you as you're turning there that in the 1st 2
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  verses of Mark, we're told by the narrator that there's a plot
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  against Christ, and then the scene shifts to the Lord who is
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  reclining at table with those who were not his enemies but His
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  allies. But look what Matthew says in
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  the first verses of Matthew 26 when Jesus had finished all
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  these sayings. Pause.
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  What sayings? The sayings that you and I have
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  been studying for Mark 13, all the discourse about the last
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  days. It's the same here in Matthew
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  26, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to his
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  disciples, you know that after two days the Passover is coming
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  and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.
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  Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in
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  the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and
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  plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill
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  him. Do you see it?
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  What does Matthew add? He adds the fact that Jesus was
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  completely aware of what the chief priests and the elders and
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  the scribes were planning against him.
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  He was fully acquainted with their plans.
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  And this is what we're supposed to get from this.
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  Because even before the chief priests gathered, look at that
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  word in verse three of Matthew 26, Then the chief priests.
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  So they didn't even have, they didn't even come together yet to
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  talk about it. They didn't even have the chance
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  to scheme it. And yet, in verse one and two,
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  Christ already reveals to his own disciples, I know what's
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  coming, and I'm telling you what's coming to your great
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  comfort and mine. Nothing takes our God by
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  surprise. Nothing.
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  Even before a plan is conceptualized, Jesus Christ
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  knows every step in it, every ingredient of it.
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  Christ is fully aware and that should instill a rock solid
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  confidence in your soul that should cause you to be able to
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  go to bed sweetly and soundly every single night because there
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  is no accident. There is no doctor report, there
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  is no sudden persecution. Absolutely nothing catches Him
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  by surprise. And if you hold the hand of Him
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  who knows every single one of your tomorrow's, the more you
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  mature in that truth, the more you're aware of that, the more
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  you allow your heart to believe it, the less you'll be caught
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  off guard as you travel through this life.
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  But there's more to rest in, even in this truth because
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  notice what the chief priests and the elders and the scribes
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  decided to do in terms of the timing of arresting Jesus and
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  killing him. It's in Mark, but if you're
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  there in Matthew, it's also there.
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  Look at Matthew 26 verse 5. But they said, what did they
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  say? Not during the feast, lest there
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  be an uproar among the people. So this was so important to them
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  as they're planning out to finally pull the trigger and and
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  get a hold of this Jesus of Nazareth.
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  They decided that we can't do this during the Passover.
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  There's no way there will be public outrage if we apprehend
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  them and put them on trial. And so let's wait till everybody
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  goes home, the city gets quiet once more, and we can do this
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  with greater stealth. And what's interesting here is
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  that when you read the Gospels and if you study the Gospel,
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  then you understand what That Jesus Christ was crucified
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  during the feast and that it was made a public affair.
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  Thousands of eyes were there to behold this tragedy.
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  Telling us what? That God overturned the plans of
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  His enemies. They wanted to do it after the
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  feast, but God ensured providentially that would happen
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  during the feast. Do you know why?
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  Because no matter what the enemies of Christ hoped for, it
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  was already planned and prepared that the Son of God would
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  fulfill what the Old Testament pronounced and pointed to, that
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  the Lamb of God would take away the sins of the world.
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  And the Lamb of God was to be slain when all those other lambs
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  were slain. To show these things are futile.
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  The one who is suspended between heaven and earth, He is the Lamb
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  of God, and He's the only one who can take away the sin of the
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  world. So what do I make of this then?
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  Here's what you make of it. Now only does God know what will
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  take place, but He also ensures that His plan will take place.
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  You can't lose, Christian, if this God is your God.
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  And we see Christ here even in these verses given to us in form
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  of narration, giving you and I the hope to trust that he's in
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  control. He is in control.
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  But this whole thing is not primarily about Jesus proving
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  his ability to deal with his rivals.
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  We're not talking about one single plan here.
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  There is another plan in this story, not from an enemy, but
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  from a lover of Christ, not from a foe, but a friend.
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  And it's this woman that we read about briefly.
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  She appears on the scene in our original text in Mark chapter
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  14. I want you to look at verse
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  three again once more. And while he was at Bethany in
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  the House of Simon the Leper, as he was reclining at table, a
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  woman, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of
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  pure nod, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it
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  over his head. John tells us in John chapter 12
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  verse three that this woman was no other than Mary of Bethany.
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  And this is not the first time that the Lord Jesus interacted
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  with Mary of Bethany or her siblings.
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  There is a total of three accounts in the Gospels where
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  Jesus with Mary providing us profound truths in the
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  relationship with one another. And it is no different here.
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  We read here of a familiar scene, if you grew up in the
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  church, that this woman, she comes and she provides something
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  for Christ, this perfume. And though there is difference
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  here between the Gospel accounts, there's one thing that
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  Matthew, Mark and John agree on, and that is how expensive this
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  ointment was. Look again at verse 5, and you
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  get an idea of what kind of value we're dealing with here.
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  For this ointment could have been sold for more than 300
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  denarii and given to the poor. So you're talking about the
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  wages of a commoner, salary bottled up in that one flask.
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  And something compels Mary of Bethany, who knew Jesus.
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  This is the last time she's going to interact with Jesus.
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  But something moved her soul in this public sphere, though, in a
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  home. Many people packed in that place
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  to break open this flask and to anoint Jesus with it.
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  The question is why? What moved her to do this?
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  And Jesus gives you the answer. It's in verse 8.
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  And if you understand what Christ is saying here, you will
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  realize how remarkable this woman was.
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  It says she or she has done what she could.
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  She has anointed my body beforehand for burial.
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  Do you see this? Christ, knowing her heart, tells
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  those who criticize her. You don't understand what's
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  taking place here. This woman is anointing me with
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  the revelation that I'm going to die.
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  This woman, and knowing that I'm going to be buried, wants to pay
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  tribute to me before I die. This is what Mary is operating
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  with, this, this knowledge that something's going to happen to
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  my master, and though I won't be able to see him again, I will do
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  what I can to lavish my loyalty and my praise and my adoration
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  even before others. So you know what that tells me
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  about Mary? Mary heard what Jesus said,
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  things that he told his disciples over and over again,
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  but she got it and they didn't. How many times did Jesus had to
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  explain to his disciples, I'm going to be betrayed, I'm going
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  to be arrested, I'm going to be tortured, I'm going to be put to
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  death, I'm going to resurrect. And they're staring at him like,
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  hey, who's the greatest among us?
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  Actually, that's what we're really concerned about.
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  And yet you have this woman who who wasn't part of the
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  three-year seminary like these disciples were, and she had more
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  insight than them. Oh, you think somebody, just
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  because somebody has letters beside their name in theology,
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  they have more spiritual insight?
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  Not necessarily. So I see a Mary who had more
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  knowledge and understanding of the purpose of Christ and those
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  who spend every day with him. So she really listened and she
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  really registered he, he's going to die.
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  And so at the right time, she prepares a sacrifice.
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  She pours out on him in preparation for his burial,
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  something from her own heart. But you know what makes this
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  even more astounding to me? Go to John chapter 12 and you'll
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  see it. It's worth it if you turn there,
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  because when you go to John chapter 12, you'll see something
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  similar. But there's something about the
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  surrounding context that adds a depth to this woman's devotion.
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  John 12, verse 3. Mary therefore took a pound of
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  expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet
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  of Jesus. So here we're told that she was
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  at his feet. Earlier.
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  We heard that she anointed his head and wiped his feet with her
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  hair. The house was filled with the
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  fragrance of the perfume, saying, what's insightful about
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  that? Oh, you can have a whole sermon
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  just on verse three. What comes before John chapter
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  12, John Chapter 11, What happens in John Chapter 11?
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  Lazarus dies. Lazarus is Mary's brother and
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  Mary and Martha reach out to Christ and ask him.
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  They beckon him. Please make way here because
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  this illness that we see our brother suffering with, it's not
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  going to end well unless you arrive here.
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  Jesus loving them, we're told in John 11 verse five, waited an
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  extra 2 days. You think Jesus doesn't love you
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  because He's keeping you waiting.
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  And yet we read there that Jesus loved them so he had them
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  waiting. He arrives on the scene and he
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  uses this moment for the glory of God to raise him from the
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  dead, to demonstrate the truth that He is the resurrection and
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  the life. And then you go into John
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  chapter 12 where Mary performs this act of devotion.
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  Here's my question to you. Why didn't Mary of Bethany use
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  her ointment to anoint her brother for burial?
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  Have you ever thought about that?
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  Why? Why was that ointment preserved
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  in John chapter 12 when in John Chapter 11 her brother died?
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  Clearly a brother that she loved deeply enough to have Christ
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  come enough to believe for a healing, enough to intercede for
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  him. Why was that ointment still
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  intact? You would think that she would
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  lavish that on her brother. Instead, we're told that she
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  kept it for Christ. That's the language there of
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  John 12, verse seven, depending on your translation.
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  Jesus and defending Mary says this was kept for my burial.
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  Can I tell you why? Because as much as Mary loved
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  Lazarus, she loved Jesus more. That's what we're seeing here.
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  As much as she adored her brother, the memories with her
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  sibling, her heart was committed to Christ more.
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  And this is the quality of worship that the Lord deserves.
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  This is the kind of thing that he demands.
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  Listen, your supreme affection that it would be poured out on
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  Christ above anyone or anything else.
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  Do you think that's true of you, my friend?
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  Is that true of you? Can you say that sitting at the
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  the pinnacle of your passion is the person of Jesus Christ?
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  She broke the flask. She didn't put a drop here and a
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  drop there. She broke the neck of it.
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  Communicating what? I have no intention of taking
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  anything back. I'm not reserving an ounce of
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  it. I'm going to give it all to him.
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  I'm not sharing this with anybody else.
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  And she pours it out all in Christ.
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  And what's amazing here is John can't help you think that he's
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  writing this in his humanity. No, the spirit insight incited
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  him to do it, caused him to write about it, that when Mary
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  performed this act, when she let go of that perfume, the
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  fragrance filled the whole room. I wonder, as John wrote this in
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  his gospel account, that he can remember the scent.
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  But there's a lesson there that this kind of extravagant worship
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  rarely goes unnoticed when somebody has determined in their
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  heart that Christ will be above everyone, everyone and
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  everything. In a sense, there's a fragrance
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  that is carried with that kind of devotion.
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  Some will love that fragrance. Others, like those disciples in
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  the room, will hate it. And that's true in your life and
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  mine. That kind of consecration to
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  Christ will woo people, will move people, will convict people
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  and others. It will cause them to give
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  another reason to despise you. But the extent of Mary's adoring
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  allegiance to Christ doesn't even end there.
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  If you thought it ends there, it doesn't.
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  Because we're told here from John's perspective that when she
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  anointed the feet of Jesus, she took her hair and dried his feet
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  with it. Ladies, you can imagine what
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  that would do to your hair. She couldn't care less.
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  She could have used any other instrument, she could have used
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  anything to dry his feet, but at the feet of Jesus, she takes her
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  hair and dampens his feet. And that doesn't make much sense
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  to you and I until you read Paul's commentary about a
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  woman's hair in First Corinthians 11/15.
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  And we're told there that one of the unique adorning works of God
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  for the for the woman. We believe that there is male
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  and female here, by the way, and only male and female.
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  That one of the unique adorning works of God to make a woman
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  distinct in her features is that he has crowned her with the
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  glory of her hair. Connect that with what Mary is
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  doing. What do you have?
• 24:03
  You have a woman who lays her glory at the feet of Jesus.
• 24:09
  What is she communicating there, Lord, not only in the
• 24:13
  preservation of this bottle, even in light of recent events,
• 24:17
  do I want to tell you that You mean more to me than anyone
• 24:21
  else? But I'm here now with my hair to
• 24:22
  tell you that You mean more to me than me.
• 24:28
  You mean more to me than me. If if I have to surrender my
• 24:32
  glory at your feet, then so be it.
• 24:36
  Let it stay at your feet. You know, there are some people,
• 24:39
  they, they, they won't serve God unless they get some glory out
• 24:42
  of it. They won't confess it, but down
• 24:43
  deep inside, that's how they feel.
• 24:46
  Here's a woman who died to her glory and surrendered it at the
• 24:50
  feet of Christ. Take it.
• 24:53
  Take the ointment that I could have used on anybody else and
• 24:55
  take the very thing that I could boast in and take it for
• 25:00
  yourself as well. You're starting to get what's
• 25:03
  happening here, right? Because here's let me tell you
• 25:06
  where we're ending. Jesus said wherever the gospel
• 25:08
  is preached, what she has done will also be told in memory of
• 25:11
  her. That is fascinating as a
• 25:14
  commemoration. Can you think about this?
• 25:16
  Wherever the gospel is heralded, this woman's act of worship will
• 25:21
  be tagged with it. So here's where we're heading.
• 25:28
  Mary is quickly developing into a model of worship.
• 25:35
  So this woman here, she's at his feet.
• 25:37
  But it doesn't end there. You come back to Mark 14.
• 25:41
  Please look at verse 4. Your heart is moved by this.
• 25:51
  I hope my heart's been moved by this.
• 25:55
  But not everybody feels the same way.
• 25:58
  Look at verse four. There were some who said to
• 26:00
  themselves indignantly, why was this ointment wasted like that?
• 26:07
  For this ointment could have been sold for more than 300
• 26:09
  denarii and given to the poor. How in the world could anyone
• 26:15
  scold the scene? How can anyone feel the liberty?
• 26:21
  Even if you internalized it? How could you even be visited by
• 26:25
  such emotions and thoughts at this splendid display of
• 26:29
  surrender? It's not surprising until you
• 26:33
  look at John's account of it. I know you're flipping back and
• 26:36
  forth, but this is what the Bible makes you do.
• 26:38
  I'm sorry, when when you go to John, only John tells us who's
• 26:43
  the instigator of this complaining.
• 26:46
  Can you guess who it is among the 12?
• 26:47
  John 12, verse five. But Judy, Judas Iscariot.
• 26:52
  Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, he was about to
• 26:55
  betray him, said why was this ointment not sold for 300
• 27:00
  denarii and given to the poor? So we're told by John, it's
• 27:04
  Judas who spoke out. And then when you come back to
• 27:06
  Mark and you see it in Matthew, it says some other disciples.
• 27:11
  So how do we connect this? It's very easy.
• 27:12
  Judas started it and then the others followed.
• 27:16
  Complaining is contagious. Yeah.
• 27:20
  And it takes a very spiritual man, a very discerning
• 27:23
  individual in the presence of a murmur to not be contaminated by
• 27:29
  it. So Judas speaks out.
• 27:33
  And unfortunately, many of the disciples at this time did not
• 27:35
  have that level of spiritual strength.
• 27:38
  And so they joined in. And the chiding, You know,
• 27:42
  that's why I'm very careful listening to people who
• 27:44
  criticize those who serve God, especially without evidence.
• 27:51
  I'm very, very slow to take what they have to say into
• 27:54
  consideration. Because Judas here seems to be
• 27:59
  righteous in his criticism, right?
• 28:01
  This could have been sold for the poor.
• 28:02
  The guy embezzled the money. The guy was a thief.
• 28:08
  You know what's so tricky about Judas?
• 28:11
  You and I studied about the Bible enough to know, and that's
• 28:14
  become even a public term to describe somebody who's a
• 28:16
  betrayer or traitor, right? He's a Judas.
• 28:19
  She's a Judas. The disciples didn't feel that
• 28:22
  way about Judas until after the fact.
• 28:24
  In fact, when Jesus says one of you is going to betray me, what
• 28:27
  did the disciples say? Is it I, Lord?
• 28:30
  Is it I? Judas wasn't suspicious.
• 28:35
  You know, if you think, Oh, yeah, if I was there and I heard
• 28:37
  Jesus say that, I would lean over to Andrew, say it was
• 28:39
  Judas. It's been Judas all along.
• 28:41
  I knew it. No, they had no idea.
• 28:45
  Isn't that scary? You can have a Judas in the
• 28:47
  midst and not even know it. Really.
• 28:49
  Wow. So here's Judas criticizing this
• 28:54
  wonderful worshipper. He convinces others about the
• 28:57
  criticism. Hey, listen, be careful what
• 29:00
  other people say, especially about people who serve God.
• 29:02
  And what I find here so amazing is that Jesus comes into her
• 29:10
  defense. Look at verse six.
• 29:14
  But Jesus said, but Jesus said, leave her alone.
• 29:20
  Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing
• 29:26
  to me. So you could just imagine the
• 29:30
  scene, right? You have Christ reclining, you
• 29:32
  have Mary anointing his head and at some point anointing his feet
• 29:35
  and she's there with her hair drying his feet.
• 29:39
  Judas is standing with the disciples behind him saying,
• 29:42
  look at this, we could have done something for the poor.
• 29:44
  What a waste. And some of the disciples says,
• 29:46
  yeah, Lord, come on, this is just, this is a little too
• 29:48
  extreme. And Jesus said, leave her alone.
• 29:50
  Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing
• 29:54
  to me. Don't expect carnal people to
• 29:56
  understand worship. Don't expect people who have
• 30:02
  never experienced Christ, like Mary who had a revelation of
• 30:04
  Christ, to understand why you come to church once a week, more
• 30:09
  than once a week, especially a church that has service at 1:00
• 30:12
  PM. How inconvenient.
• 30:14
  Don't expect everybody to understand it.
• 30:16
  Don't, don't expect people to appreciate it.
• 30:18
  There's some people who don't, who see what Judas saw in this
• 30:22
  moment. A waste.
• 30:23
  This is a waste. This is a waste of life.
• 30:25
  This is a waste of your weekend. This is a waste of your money.
• 30:31
  And Christ speaks up for her. But this is not about the world
• 30:36
  criticizing a worshipper. This is supposedly disciples
• 30:40
  criticizing a worshipper, which grants us further instruction.
• 30:49
  There might be some who might not even understand the value of
• 30:53
  what you do for the Lord. But who cares?
• 30:58
  Who cares if people are not impressed with the ministry that
• 31:00
  you're a part of? Who cares if people praise you
• 31:02
  for the ministry that you're working in?
• 31:04
  Do you notice what Jesus said here?
• 31:06
  She has done a beautiful thing to me.
• 31:09
  It wasn't beautiful to Judas and the crowd, but it was beautiful
• 31:12
  to Christ. Isn't that enough for you to
• 31:14
  stay motivated to serve Him? He thinks it's beautiful.
• 31:19
  He's the one who loves it. He's the one who's moved by it.
• 31:23
  That should be enough for you to get up another day and give Him
• 31:25
  your heart once more to serve Him the capacity that you're in.
• 31:34
  She has done a beautiful thing to me.
• 31:38
  And listen, let's just make this about others maybe criticizing
• 31:41
  or judging us. Be careful, believer, of looking
• 31:45
  at other people and how they serve the Lord and judging them
• 31:50
  or failing to appreciate them or encourage them.
• 31:55
  You know, there's a verse that came to mind when I looked at
• 31:56
  this part. It's in Romans 14.
• 31:58
  Romans 14 deals with believers in the same church that may not
• 32:01
  agree on certain things that may not worship in the same way.
• 32:04
  You have some who have tasted of the grace of God, and So what?
• 32:08
  They can go to the meat market and buy meat that has been
• 32:10
  sacrificed to idols. And you would think that those
• 32:15
  would be the less spiritual ones.
• 32:16
  No, Paul calls them the strong ones because your strength is
• 32:21
  determined by your understanding of God's grace more than
• 32:24
  anything else. And so you had some who were
• 32:27
  like, he's king, he's Lord. What are what are these things?
• 32:32
  We pray over it, we give thanks for it and it's done.
• 32:34
  It's dealt with. Let let's go, let's go grab a
• 32:36
  steak or two. And then you had weak believers,
• 32:42
  weak believers who maybe had that background of worshipping
• 32:46
  in these temples. And so they they stayed away
• 32:49
  from those kind of meats. And more than that, you had some
• 32:52
  believers who didn't consider one day more holy than the
• 32:55
  others, and yet others who had more strict adherence to certain
• 32:58
  feasts and days. And so Paul here is is coaching
• 33:01
  this church and what he's concerned about primarily for
• 33:07
  the strong not to take advantage of their liberties to make the
• 33:10
  weak stumble, but also for those who are weak not to judge those
• 33:16
  who are strong and vice versa. Listen to this verse in Romans
• 33:20
  14, verse four. Who are you to pass judgement on
• 33:24
  the servant of another? It is before his own master that
• 33:29
  he stands or falls and he will be upheld for the Lord is able
• 33:34
  to make him stand. And later on, he kind of echoes
• 33:38
  it, but he says, listen, if you're going to judge another,
• 33:41
  realize we're all going to stand before the judgement seat of
• 33:43
  God, meaning don't get so preoccupied about judging and
• 33:49
  nitpicking and and trying to evaluate somebody's motives.
• 33:52
  You have enough to worry about yourself.
• 33:53
  You have to stand before God and give an account for your life.
• 33:58
  But notice what he says here in verse four.
• 34:00
  He says, why are you passing a judgment on another servant?
• 34:04
  You're not his master. You can't confidently determine
• 34:09
  that person's motive. You can't confidently say
• 34:13
  whether they are this or that. Yes, there's fruit that we have
• 34:15
  to be aware of, but this is deeper than that.
• 34:18
  This is nitpicking and this is this is projecting.
• 34:21
  What you think is right should be right for everybody, and what
• 34:24
  you think is wrong should be wrong for everybody.
• 34:28
  There's a whole stream in in the evangelical world that are
• 34:31
  operating that kind of logic. Nothing black and white in the
• 34:34
  Bible, but if you have that in your home, and if you do this
• 34:37
  with your family, then you're less spiritual than this person
• 34:39
  who doesn't have that in their home and doesn't do that.
• 34:44
  Who are you to judge another's servant?
• 34:48
  And then notice what he says later.
• 34:50
  He says it is before his own master that he stands or falls
• 34:55
  and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
• 34:57
  That means many things. Here's my favorite thing that it
• 35:00
  means your criticism won't make him fall.
• 35:04
  His master is going to uphold him if he is true.
• 35:11
  That brings me comfort. I don't know about you.
• 35:14
  That brings me great joy. That what men inside or outside
• 35:19
  might say, that will not determine me standing on my feet
• 35:23
  to serve my master. He's the one that determines,
• 35:27
  he's the one that hires me, and he's the one who fires me saying
• 35:32
  why? Why is that important?
• 35:34
  And how's that connected? Notice that when you go back to
• 35:36
  Mark chapter 14 and this woman who's being scolded, she doesn't
• 35:40
  say one word. Jesus defends her the whole
• 35:44
  time. Listen, you serve God long
• 35:48
  enough. Satan won't let you do it
• 35:51
  without discouraging you, putting fear in you.
• 35:54
  Listen very closely to this. You have to understand that the
• 35:57
  one who makes you stand or fall is your master, not any man.
• 36:02
  And there are times in which, like Paul, where he defended his
• 36:05
  apostleship for the sake of the gospel.
• 36:07
  And there are other times where you have to be like Mary.
• 36:09
  And what? Stay quiet and let Christ defend
• 36:14
  you. I've had people tell me over the
• 36:16
  years, you know, so and so said this, I heard this.
• 36:19
  Maybe you should ask me, should you clarify?
• 36:21
  I can't just run around and clarify to everybody everything
• 36:24
  that they hear or say. I can't do that.
• 36:28
  Christ doesn't ask that of me. And that's no way to live in my
• 36:31
  service to Christ. Christ, this is a preview.
• 36:34
  One day will be the one who makes a plea for me.
• 36:39
  He's the one who will speak up for me.
• 36:40
  He can speak up for me in this life.
• 36:42
  Surely one day He will speak up for me in the life to come.
• 36:46
  So let me stay busy serving the Lord, worshipping Him, and
• 36:50
  Christ will deal with the rest. Be free today in your worship.
• 36:59
  We come back to our main text in verse 7.
• 37:06
  For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want
• 37:09
  you can do good for them, but you will not always have me.
• 37:14
  What's Jesus saying here? Jesus is not saying that we
• 37:18
  shouldn't take care of the poor, but this is a good word for
• 37:22
  those who are so overly caught up in social attempts to
• 37:27
  vindicate or to deal with people and help them.
• 37:30
  That's important. But Jesus here prioritizes
• 37:34
  worship, and from that worship, everything else flows.
• 37:37
  But in context, what he's saying here is you guys are obviously
• 37:41
  not seeing or seizing the opportunity at hand.
• 37:45
  I'm going to die in a couple of moments here.
• 37:50
  You're not doing what she's doing.
• 37:52
  You're supposedly concerned for the poor.
• 37:55
  The poor will always be there. I will not always be here.
• 37:59
  Do you guys, are you guys seeing what's happening here?
• 38:02
  She clearly does, and so this is an indirect way of challenging
• 38:08
  their lack of ability to understand the moment, the
• 38:11
  prophetic significance of what's about to transpire.
• 38:17
  Verse 8 has rescued me early in my Christian walk about my
• 38:28
  service to the Lord, and I hope that if if it's not registered
• 38:32
  yet in your life, that this would be the defining moment.
• 38:35
  Look what Jesus says in verse eight.
• 38:38
  She has done what she could. She has anointed my body
• 38:45
  beforehand for burial. That little phrase.
• 38:50
  She has done what she could, has healed me 10,000 times over, has
• 38:57
  comforted me beyond what you can imagine.
• 39:01
  See, Christ doesn't measure the strength of our devotion the way
• 39:05
  you and I might. He looks at your means and He
• 39:10
  takes into consideration your motives.
• 39:13
  So it's not about amount, it's not about the breath, it's not
• 39:20
  about the public opinion. It's about your means as an
• 39:24
  individual and your motives behind what you do.
• 39:28
  Isn't that freeing? You know what's so encouraging
• 39:31
  about this phrase? She has done what she could
• 39:34
  remember. This is found in Matthew, and
• 39:36
  this is found in John. Matthew and John do not include
• 39:40
  that phrase, only Mark. What is the main theme of the
• 39:44
  Gospel of Mark? You can say it out loud if you
• 39:45
  know it. Jesus being what?
• 39:48
  The perfect servant of God. Is it any coincidence that this
• 39:52
  phrase is found here in a book that is focused on Jesus serving
• 39:56
  God perfectly? Yes, as our fulfillment for
• 39:59
  righteousness, but also as our example in service that this
• 40:02
  phrase she has done what she could is here.
• 40:08
  I'm talking to the heart that eagerly wants to serve the Lord
• 40:10
  and make an impact for the Kingdom and wants to see as many
• 40:13
  people touch for His glory. And you may feel limited, you
• 40:17
  may feel like you don't have the resources or the platform or the
• 40:19
  gifting. Remember what Jesus said about
• 40:22
  Mary. She has done what she could.
• 40:23
  And it is beautiful to me. It's beautiful to me, may not be
• 40:28
  impressive to others. It might be even criticized by
• 40:29
  this. Who cares when Christ is the one
• 40:33
  who says she's done what she could?
• 40:36
  And it's wonderful in my eyes. She's done what she could.
• 40:42
  And then he says this astounding thing in verse 9.
• 40:48
  And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the
• 40:51
  whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of of
• 40:55
  her. Many wonderful things were done
• 40:59
  in the presence of Christ towards Christ, in response to
• 41:05
  Christ. But this is a unique tribute
• 41:10
  that Jesus gives to this woman. It's being fulfilled now in one
• 41:18
  way that we are Speaking of her. We are reflecting the memory of
• 41:23
  her. But for Christ to verbalize this
• 41:27
  commemoration, to say as the gospel is spread across the
• 41:31
  globe, so also what she has done will be told in memory of her.
• 41:35
  In other words, Jesus wants the world to know this woman.
• 41:42
  Jesus wants her memory to be considered, to be discussed, to
• 41:48
  be studied. And in wrestling with this
• 41:52
  thinking, what is it about what this woman has done for Christ
• 41:56
  to to esteem her in such a way to make her a monument in some
• 42:02
  sense, not to be worshipped, but to be considered.
• 42:06
  And I believe that the fact that the Gospels included with this
• 42:09
  testimony is meant to demonstrate the following, that
• 42:14
  as you hear the Gospel, you would also have a strong example
• 42:18
  of the appropriate response to the Gospel.
• 42:22
  Mary is a model of worship. Makes sense, does it not?
• 42:30
  That oil that she could have put on her brother or anybody else
• 42:34
  is for you. My glory is yours.
• 42:40
  That was her response to what? Knowing that Jesus was going to
• 42:43
  die? What's your response?
• 42:49
  What's your heart towards Him? That's the point.
• 42:57
  Because what Christ said about her, He expects of you and I.
• 43:01
  The beautiful thing that she has done is something that He
• 43:04
  expects from His people as a bouquet of devotion to Him, man
• 43:10
  and woman. This isn't just a sentimental
• 43:14
  thing that women are prone to. This is what He expects of all
• 43:17
  His disciples in the way that you can show it.
• 43:20
  Here's where I end. You know what's so amazing about
• 43:22
  Mary Bethany? She's mentioned three times in
• 43:25
  the Gospel accounts. One time in Luke chapter 10,
• 43:28
  another time in John Chapter 11, and lastly in John chapter 12 or
• 43:31
  in Mark chapter 14, Matthew 26. If you study carefully, you know
• 43:36
  what you'll discover about Mary of Bethany, that at some point
• 43:40
  and every time she is mentioned, she's found at the feet of
• 43:43
  Jesus. So in Luke 10 when Martha is
• 43:48
  hosting Jesus, typical Middle Eastern woman running around
• 43:52
  trying to feed everybody. Mary, we're told, was found at
• 43:57
  the feet of Jesus listening to His Word.
• 44:02
  John 11 Jesus arrives to Bethany News gets to Mary.
• 44:06
  Mary runs to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit tells us that she fell at
• 44:11
  His feet. So what did she do the first
• 44:12
  time? She was listening to His word.
• 44:15
  What did she do with the second time?
• 44:16
  She was praying at his feet. And what do you find in the last
• 44:20
  time? Worship, Listening, praying,
• 44:26
  worshiping where? At the lowest possible point,
• 44:35
  years ago, I wrote a poem about Mary.
• 44:39
  Because this insight just moved me to my core.
• 44:45
  I haven't shared it in years. I haven't even read it myself in
• 44:50
  years. But I thought this would be an
• 44:51
  appropriate time to end this message.
• 44:55
  This poem is called at his feet. Find me at His feet, receiving
• 45:04
  His words divine. Though troubles may surround me,
• 45:09
  my peace is in the vine. Find me at His feet.
• 45:15
  Those service demands my day. I gaze upon His beauty, lest my
• 45:22
  heart drifts astray. Find me at His feet, as sorrows
• 45:28
  blanket my soul. To Him I give my pain, To Him
• 45:34
  who's in control, Find me at His feet As tears mask my face.
• 45:42
  Confusion has paid a visit, yet my anchor is His grace.
• 45:49
  Find me at His feet with the revelation of His death, my
• 45:53
  ointment poured out in full, and with it my every breath.
• 45:59
  Find me at His feet, longing for the one above.
• 46:04
  Though voices may attack me, they are muted by His love.
• 46:10
  Find me at His feet, my glory. Relinquish there, for in the
• 46:16
  posture of surrender, His scent becomes my share.
• 46:23
  Find me at His feet, drawn by the fragrance of grace.
• 46:28
  For every other pleasure in life.
• 46:31
  Fall short of His embrace. Find me at His feet through joy
• 46:38
  or in dismay. In every season of my life, at
• 46:43
  His feet is where I stay. Pray with me if the praise team
• 46:52
  can come up, please. Thank you, believer.
• 47:05
  Are you at His feet today or did you pick yourself up and go
• 47:09
  somewhere else? I encourage you to find yourself
• 47:13
  back at His feet, knowing fellowship with Him, knowing
• 47:19
  intimacy with Him. Maybe you need to rediscover the
• 47:24
  joy of that place, and this is your time to communicate with
• 47:28
  the Lord and ask Him to revive. You're longing for Him.
• 47:38
  In good times and in bad. Mary was found at the feet of
• 47:40
  the Lord. Some people find themselves at
• 47:45
  the feet of the Lord only in bad times.
• 47:47
  Other people find them at good times, and they don't know how
• 47:50
  to bring their troubles or their concerns to Him.
• 47:53
  Mary teaches us to stay there no matter what.
• 48:00
  If you're not a Christian in this place, Jesus invites you to
• 48:03
  know a love that is incomparable, a love that will
• 48:08
  have you so content in your relationship with Him that
• 48:11
  whatever Christ asks of you, you can give it up without
• 48:14
  hesitation. Before I even pray, I'm not
• 48:24
  going to even pray right now. I'm going to allow you to pray.
• 48:27
  Spend time with the Lord. In a minute or so, the team will
• 48:30
  lead us in song, but I asked you to pull out that bottle of
• 48:36
  perfume and pour it out on him, for he is worthy.