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Amen so in mark 14 we're gonna continue on through the book of Mark as we've been doing last many months now Going not necessarily chapter by chapter, but more passage by passage sometimes first by verse and this morning I just want to look at verses 1 through 9. I know that's a very long chapter. There's a lot to cover in Mark chapter 14 but I want to just focus in on verses 1 through 9 where you have Jesus coming into Bethany and he's sitting down to eat he's having this dinner and You have Mary coming as we'll see here in a minute and breaking open the alabaster box of ointment and Anointing Jesus and of course some of those that stand by are upset about this They're angry that this you know waste has been made this precious ointment has been poured upon the Lord Of course the Lord rebukes them and says, you know, she has done this against my death against the bit my burial So again just to review because I know we might have lost track of that in all of the reading that just took place Let's read again At the beginning here versus 1 through 7 It says after two days was the Feast of the Passover and of unleavened bread and the chief priests the scribe saw they might Take him by craft to put him to death. So they're plotting they're using craft, you know craftiness. They're trying to Find a way to catch Jesus and actually have him put to death but they said not on the feast day lest there be an uproar of the people and Being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper he sat at meet There came a woman having alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious and she break the box and poured it on his head So, of course, this is a you know some kind of an ointment of perfume because we know that the aroma fills the whole house and you have to imagine that this is A time where you know, you just didn't go to you know, your local retailer and go buy the perfume area I don't know what you call that area because I never go there, but I know it's there Okay, where they sell the perfumes and the colognes and all those things You just shouldn't go pick up a bottle of whatever, you know, I think the fanciest I ever got was Old Spice You know the aftershave we throw a little Old Spice on but you know this was a time when that stuff wasn't you just didn't go to Walmart and go down the You know cosmetic section or whatever and just pick up a bottle and anoint yourself and go around smelling good You know, this is a very precious ointment. This is something that would have made been made by the Apocatary There were people this is their craft is what they did and they would actually be gathering, you know, the raw ingredients They'd be melt, you know grinding these things together However, you go about that process to make these precious as it says there these precious ointments And of course, they're putting in a box and it appears it's a it's a box It has to be broken and I think that's an important element that once this brought this box is broken There's kind of no putting it back together. It kind of appears like maybe it's a it's a one-time thing Maybe you know, I don't know a lot about the customs and things that they practice back then but perhaps this box had to be sealed in order for the ointment to keep its its Smell, you know, maybe it would kind of run out but in either case, you know what she's pouring out Here is not something that's just commonplace. It's something that's very special as the Bible says here It's something that is a spikenard very precious and she break the box and poured it on his head Notice the reaction of those that are standing around Jesus not Jesus's reaction but those that saw this took place and there were some that had indignation within themselves and Of course that indignation or that anger, you know That's just another word for anger indignation that they're feeling is because of what has just happened this precious box of ointment of spikenard Has been broken open and Jesus has been anointed and they're seeing this and it's actually making them mad It's actually upsetting them and why is what's so upsetting about it? It says they said they had an ignition with themselves the end of verse 4 and said why was this waste of the ointment made? So they're seeing Jesus, you know, and again, these are the disciples as we'll see in a minute. It's not just Judas There's other disciples that are there other people that are believing on Christ those that would be considered you know apostles those that would be considered as disciples those that are there at meet with them those who have You know benefited from his ministry. They're seeing this and they're actually upset that Jesus is being anointed They're seeing Jesus Christ in whom they believe be anointed with this precious spikenard and they say why is this waste been made? They're actually getting mad that Jesus has been anointed thus and it's actually kind of a startling Turn of events here. You would expect that they would be like, oh that makes sense You know, what a great thing like there's nothing you can waste on Jesus folks Anything you give to the Lord everything anything you you spend on Jesus anything you sacrifice for the Lord is never a waste And yet here we have people seeing this and they're getting mad and they're mad because it was a waste of the ointment Look at they go on and say for it might have been sold for more than 300 pence and have been given to the poor And they murmur and again, it's they murmured against her Okay, and we know Judas was the betrayer was involved in this as we'll see in a parallel passage but notice the plurality there they murmured against him against against her for having done this and Notice the you know hyper spirituality the the feigned Spirituality here. They're saying oh it might have been given to the poor, right? You know, it's such a you know, often when we try to do things for God We try to do things for the Lord Jesus Christ You know people will come along and criticize our efforts and the things that we try to do and they'll try to you know Make themselves sound more spiritual by saying well, you know, you could have done this Right. Oh You only read your Bible once a year. Maybe you should read it, you know several times in here Well, at least they're reading it once. Oh You only go soul winning and once a week when maybe you should go so anymore You know, you guys aren't getting anyone saved it's all the Lord it's that kind of an attitude, right? Well, Paul said I have become all things to all men that I bite by some means save some right and he said I saved Them of course We all understand that it's the gospel that we preach that saves the gospel of Jesus Christ death brown resurrection And yet when we'll go out and preach that people and we'll say oh we got so many people saying You know, you'll have these these types of people these that'll because they're doing nothing It's just making them mad because it's pointing out their own hypocrisy And they'll say well, you know, you didn't get anyone saved. That's the kind of attitude that's present here Why was this waste of the ointment made it could have been given to the poor Like there's so much more spiritual and so much more holy Then Mary here who is breaking open this precious ointment and doing something that is actually to be praised Jesus goes on and says wherever this gospel is preached, you know This record will be there and we see it in the Gospels all four of the Gospels. We see this story taking place so G truly Jesus did honor that statement and we're here reading about her today and We're reading about these guys and their reaction and they're not being cast in the best light But you always have these types of people that just want to level criticism at somebody who's just trying to serve God Just trying to sacrifice for the Lord Jesus Said in verse 6 let her alone. Why trouble ye her she hath brought a good work on me He's saying no what she's doing is good. What she's doing is right for he had the poor with you Always, you know you guys you're so worried about the poor, you know, you could go sell your own ointment you could go raise your own funds and take care of them any time you want and Whensoever you will you may do good that them good but me you have not always And Mary here seems to understand that She that Christ is going to be crucified that she understands that this is being done against his death Now that's kind of the synopsis of what my sermon this morning the kind of the point I want to make but let me just point out a few things before I get into that First of all, let me point out here that all the guests that are present that we read about have reason to be grateful, right? They're all there and they all have a reason To be grateful for what God has done and obviously Mary is simply doing this out of gratitude. She's doing something She's offering something out of a heart that is grateful, but she's not the only one there notice in verse 3 It says and being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper Now, I don't think Simon was still a leper if they're just calling him Simon the leper, right? It's not like Jesus went around You know curing all this leprosy but left Simon in his leprosy and then went over to his house and ate Obviously, he's being called Simon the leper because he was formerly a leper In fact, if we were, you know adhering to the Levitical law, he wouldn't have been present at that dinner because he would have been Outside he would have actually been ostracized until his leprosy was clear. So obviously he's in the house they're in the house of Simon leper Simon the leper is there and he has a Reason to be grateful right and look leprosy in the Bible is a picture of sin. It's a picture of sin You know we can identify with Simon the leper this morning if you say I don't know what I have to be grateful for You know, I don't my life isn't as blessed as other people I don't know if God's blessing me the way he's blessing other people. Well Are you saved this morning? Have you had your spiritual leprosy cleaned up has the blood been applied? Well, then you have a reason to be grateful this morning. You have something like these other guests to thank Jesus for You have a reason to make sacrifice for the Lord you have Simon the leper and of course in John 12 in the parallel passage I'll read to you in verse 1 it says then Jesus six days before the Passover cometh to Bethany Where was excuse me where the Lazarus was which had been dead? I mean talk about a guy, you know that has something to be grateful for right? He was dead and then he's risen again We all know the story when Jesus came and said Lazarus come forth after he'd been dead for days, right? And this is of course the brother of Mary who was pouring out that ointment and Martha Okay, so you could see that there's guests here that have a reason to be grateful one. You have Simon the leper you have Lazarus which had been dead whom he raised from the dead There they made him a supper and Martha Lazarus his brother served But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table. So Lazarus has a reason to be grateful and look so do you for the same reason? You know, you have the same reason to be grateful this morning If like Simon the leper you've been cleansed from a spiritual iniquity, you've been cleansed from a spiritual disease You've been cleansed from sin and the wages of sin. That's a reason to be grateful this morning. You're like Lazarus You're one who has been risen again from the dead spiritually, you know, we have been made new in Christ Old things are passed away behold all things are become new. We are a new creature in Christ We have a resurrection like Lazarus that is awaiting us. We have a new body We have the home in heaven, you know We've been raised again spiritually from the dead and one day in Christ because we are sealed by the Spirit will again be raised into Again with Christ in glory praise the Lord. That's something to be grateful for this morning It's something to be glad about, you know, Mary and Martha there and they're grateful because they got their brother back. I Don't know. Maybe they're not so happy me. They're kind of like, you know, you could have just let not just kidding We know the story, you know, they're weeping and they want him to come back Mary's had said, you know, if you'd been here my brother had not died. Okay, so everyone here has a reason to be grateful They all have a reason to be Thanking the Lord for all the things that he has done in his life. You know, what so do we I Don't care how hard your life is. I don't care how difficult your circumstances are I don't care what it is you're going through if it's your health if it's your finances if it's you know It's something's going on with some loved one or some family. I don't care what trial or tribulation you're going through Whatever it is you have a reason to be grateful this morning You have a reason to thank God that you're saved and that you're on your way to heaven That's a joy that nothing in life should take away from us Now it's going on here in the story Mary the sister of Martha and Anne Lazarus, she's the one that piers out this ointment upon Jesus. It says in John 12 verse 3 I'll read to you in a parallel passage then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard very costly and Anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped him with her hair and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment You know you start serving God you start making a sacrifice You know that odor of that sacrifice that sweet Savior unto God is going to fill the house so to speak You know, it's gonna be evident to those that around you People are gonna start to notice a change people gonna start to notice your difference I people can sort of notice that you're not the way you used to be right. You can't avoid an odor Some some orders we wish we could right and sometimes no matter how many matches we like that order Just ain't going away. You got to take the bag out, right? You got to get the diaper out, right? Some orders are just unavoidable. You know, it's the same way in your Christian life You know you're serving God if you're actually making sacrifices people are gonna notice that odor is Gonna be something that other people around you cannot avoid smelling so to speak and there's gonna be some people that are glad for it There's gonna be some people that are gonna be encouraged by it There's gonna be some people that may even be inspired by it But there's also gonna be other people gonna say oh, well, why did you do that? You could have given that to the poor Oh, you're so much holier than us now. Oh, you're so much more godly than ever. Oh, you know, they'll say things like this They'll have criticisms though. They'll the level accusations that you why because you're just trying to serve God You're just you're just grateful for what God has done for you're just anointing his feet I mean, I love the story here when you kind of compare the passages, you know It says she poured upon his head, but it's also on his feet. She's anointing the whole man. She's breaking upon his head It's it's dripping down and it's hair and it's getting over You know his head and his beard and all that then she's also going onto his feet and she's anointing his feet as well She just wants to praise God. She just wants to serve the Lord And What this does is actually provokes this self-righteous response and others there's it provokes a response out of Judas and the others disciples that were there as it says in verse 4 There was some there that had great indignation within Themselves plural and said why was this weight waste made in John 12 then sayeth one of the disciples Judas Iscariot, which is the betrayer Simon's son which should betray him which was not he said why it was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor You know, he it sounds like he's the one that actually just came out and said it Kind of said what everyone was thinking. Oh, why did you do that Mary? Oh, what do you think you're better than us? Oh Mary must is so holy because she's here anointing the body of Jesus Right guys, and then the others are kind of like yeah We're all thinking it we're all feeling that way But you know Judas had enough sense to speak up and just say it Tell everybody what we were thinking But notice it says this he said this is in John 12 Not that he cared for the poor. That's what he said, right? Oh, you could have given that to the poor for 300 300 pence you could have sold that you could have given 300 pence 300 days wages apparently But you know that and you could have fed the poor He but the Bible says it clarifies the narrator of Scripture tells us what's actually in his heart and says That he said not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. He's just covetous He's just thinking man that why is Jesus getting the ointment a man if I had had that spike No, if I had had that ointment, I could have sold that and kept that because he's a thief Because he had the bag and bear that was put there in so I love this in the scripture to in Jesus's ministry You know he and the Bible says he knew that Judas was a devil from the beginning, right? Jesus deliberately chose Judas so that the scripture might be fulfilled and the Bible says that he was a devil from the beginning And even at the Last Supper as we'll see he'll say, you know, you're clean but not all right speaking of Judas There is one that who's who's at the table whose hand betrayeth me, right? So he knows Judas is the betrayer that it's ultimately gonna stab him in the back And I just love the fact that Jesus decided in his ministry and said let's give him the bag Let's give that guy the money. Let's give the money to the guy who is gonna betray me Kind of gives you an idea what Jesus, you know how concerned he was about earthly riches But notice it is that Jesus rebukes this attitude Jesus rebukes this mildly albeit and reminds them that you know, if you're so concerned about the poor you just have opportunity after you Perpetual opportunities to serve the poor. He said you have the poor with you always Verse 7 mark 14 for you have the poor with you always and whensoever you will he may do good to them But me you have not always saying oh, you're so worried. You're so concerned about the poor Well, you know what? You could take care of the poor anytime you want Judas You can take care of the poor anytime you want you self-righteous hypocrites. That's what he's saying You know the people that want to level Accusations and people that want to criticize the fact that we want to serve God go soul-winning live for the Lord Whatever it is that we just want to be like Mary and just out of a grateful heart out of thankfulness Just you know, give something sacrifice something for God out of our time of our our ability You know those of us that are we're criticized for that, you know, we could say the same thing back to them We could say hey, you know, you could start serving God anytime you want to You know, you could you could get saved and start going to church and clean up your life anytime you want But it's so often those same those people that refuse to that They're the ones that are ready just right there ready to start criticizing Ready to start leveling accusations and try to bring down other people that are just out of a grateful heart trying to serve God with their lives They'll be right there just to criticize. You know what? But the truth is they could start doing any you know This isn't some exclusive club that we're in this morning You know, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ your child of God, you know, you have the Holy Spirit This is much as anybody else that's in this room. You know, we all have access to the same King James Bible right here You know, we could all learn to serve God and live for God. It's it's not it's not off limits to anybody And yet people rather than getting right and straighten out their own lives and getting right with God themselves They would rather just sit there and criticize people and try to tear them down You know what it's it's a it's a Judas move It's Judas like right When they're saying oh, you know, you could have sold that given it to the poor and trying to sound so much holier than they actually are But Jesus is saying you know you have the poor with you always you guys could serve the poor anytime you want and that's what we Say the same people that would criticize the fact that we're living for God I mean, I remember when I got saved and I started going to church and I started cleaning up my life You know, that was something that was leveled against me Oh, you're so much holier now you're holier than now and kind of quit hanging out with the old crowd and doing the things that they Did and they would all and I just thought to myself. Well, you know you could I in fact I invited some friends to church and I said hey, you know you guys and they came and I was like you guys could get on board too You know you could quit all this sin You could quit this living this lifestyle anytime you want and you can get saved and start doing the same thing. I'm doing Jesus is rebuking them saying you have the poor with you always but me you have not always in this morning I want to encourage us to take advantage of the opportunities that we have You know, we have this one life only to serve Christ He said you have the poor always but me you have not always that's what Jesus said And we should take advantage of the opportunity that we have in this life Look, there's a lot of people who have the poor always but me you have not always that's what Jesus said And We should take advantage of the opportunity that we have in this life Look there's gonna come a time when we draw our last breath when we close our eyes when we pass into glory if We should live under the coming of the Lord and his return, you know, that's when our Earth our earthly opportunity to earn rewards and serve Christ is over. It's over We have one opportunity serve Christ this life we should take advantage of it Take Advantage of your opportunity this life to serve Christ take advantage of a church like this to serve Christ You know these you know churches that are just on fire and zealous for soul winning aren't they're not everywhere folks I'm not saying we're the only ones but you know, they're fewer and farther than between that I care to admit They're hard to find it's hard to find, you know, someone's gonna preach the whole counsel the Word of God It's hard to find some it's gonna try to keep you fired up and inspired to go out and preach the gospel and and help And support that churches like this, you know, they're not everywhere You should take advantage of it to serve God in churches like this and I'm not saying it's the only church you can serve Got it I'm just saying you know, they're not there's not a lot of them There's a lot of them. You can go have a religious experience There's a lot of you can go and have enjoy a show a Lot of them that are hard to tell a difference between the club It's a lot of hard to tell between that and a rock concert it's hard to tell that between that that church and a movie theater, you know, but this ain't one of those and Those are a dime a dozen The church is like this where you have an opportunity to go out and serve God in sincerity and truth with those that call the Lord have a pure heart they're getting fewer and farther between Unfortunately, I wish there were more Let Me find my spot here You know, we need to take advantage of the opportunities that we have if you would go to first Peter chapter number four We'll come back a little bit mark 14 or I might just read it to you We kind of got the details that we want out of this morning Take advantage of the opportunities that we have and just understand that as you serve God as you start to live for the Lord There are always going to be those in life that are going to critique you those that are doing less or nothing for God Are the ones that are always critiquing those that are doing something for God. They're always gonna be critics There's always gonna be people there that are gonna you know Be cynical and make their snide remarks and try to tear people down and make them feel bad for serving God I mean put yourself in the story. I mean imagine being married You're just grateful. You just love the Lord. You've got this precious ointment You've been hanging on to it was very costly and you go and you're just so grateful for salvation You're so grateful that the Lord has done all this healing. You're just grateful for the sacrifice He's about to make you're grateful that your brother is sitting at the table with you who was previously dead and Jesus miraculously raised But you're just married with this grateful heart. You just want to do something special for God You just want to give of what you have and then there's a group of people the disciples of all people That are sitting there saying I don't like to do that part You know that could be very discouraging And I'm just warning you right now that if you're gonna serve God There's gonna be people that are gonna criticize you bring you down say negative things and try to get you to stop. I Again, I don't I don't like to just constantly use myself an example But it's like when I first got saved and started serving God I remember, you know, I had a relative come to me and say, you know, I'm gonna Give you two weeks, you know, they just like you're just on a bandwagon. You're just on some kick Well, I've been on a kick for over 20 years now So I don't think it's a it's just a kick it's not a bandwagon friend it's a it's a train And I'm on the tracks Those that are doing less are always there to criticize Those that are doing more look at first Peter chapter number four verse one for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in The flesh arm yourselves with the same mind. Likewise the same mind That's think about what he's saying what Peters got not saying there, you know Christ suffered in the flesh for us Be prepared in your mind to do the same thing Welcome to the Christian life. That's suffering Right, but you know, that's life is suffering, you know At least with Christ the suffering has meaning it has purpose. There's reward For he that has suffered in the flesh have ceased from sin, you know If you were gonna cease from sin, it's not gonna be easy There's gonna be some suffering involved that he should no longer live the rest of his time to the lust of the flesh Excuse me to the lust of men, but to the will of God For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles He's saying you know before you got saved you had your fill of sin and that's more than enough You don't need to continue on going on and sin The time of the past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of Gentiles What is the will of the Gentiles eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die That's what the unsaved of this world say when we walked in lasciviousness, you know, just indulging the flesh lusts excess of wine, you know drunkenness revelings Banqueting's just these big feasts where we all eat and be gluttonous and drink and party and abominable idolatries wherein They meaning those that are right, you know that old crowd that did all those things They think it's strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot Speaking evil of you, you know the time past of our life. We did those things. That's what we used to do You know, maybe maybe some of us have it. Maybe some of us grew up a Christian home and never partook in those things Praise God That's what I want my children to be able to say But you know a lot of people get saved later in life and they look back and say yeah I did a lot of these things. I wrought the will of the Gentiles I was just a man a woman who just did by nature, you know, the things according to the flesh So you can't really hold that against people. They're just doing you know, they know not what they do Okay, but when we get saved, you know We should no longer live the rest of our time in the flesh the time past has sufficed that there We've already had enough of that That's not something we should go sneaking after and if we decide that we're gonna get on board with God's program And stop living for the flesh and start living for God just mark it down There's been people as it says there in verse 4 that think it's strange. They think it odd. They think you're weird Why because you run not with them? What do you mean you're not coming over Friday night? What do you mean? You're not gonna be coming to the kegger? Grabbing the 12-pack and joining us for the big game. What do you mean? You're not gonna be going down to the bar What do you mean you're not gonna smoke this? What do you mean you're not gonna go to the club and go home with whoever What do you mean it? What are you weird now? Are you strange? You in a cult? Let's just wait for that one. It's coming You know if I'm running a cult I'm doing a really bad job. I Should probably step down if I'm running a cult, you know, this is a Baptist Church. There's nothing cultish about a Baptist Church Okay, I Mean I've probably I've there's as many people have left this church is to attend it currently over the years That's not a very good cult leader, right? I've preached people out the door. I said, please leave That's not what a cult does Cult doesn't tell you to read your Bible and decide for yourself what it says Cult says oh you need me to tell you what this says Cult says oh you need me to tell you what this says You need me to interpret you need someone you need the man of God to get up and you just trust me I know what it says. You don't need to read this for yourself That's cultish, but this is the type of things people are gonna level that at you. Oh, you're in a cult. I Don't think you know what that word means You're in a cult. You're uh, you're weird. They think it's strange What are they and what do they think that's so strange that you run not to the same excess of riot that riotous living Right, that's another term there that that's used elsewhere in Scripture riotous living. Just this hedonistic Unconfined just doing whatever comes naturally just whatever feels good the lascivious ness The lust the excess of wine the banquetings the revelings the idolatries the fornication The adulteries all these things that the world just goes chasing after when you get right with God You start serving God out of a grateful heart. There's gonna be people that think you're strange it's weird that you don't come around and hang out and do these things anymore and Then notice they'll actually what begin speaking evil of you And as you hear about so-and-so He got Jesus. He got religion, right? He's a holier-than-thou. No, he's some kind of holy roller. He's going to that church But You notice the verse 5 Who now who's the who there at the beginning of verse 5? It's talking about the people that say these things Those same people that say these things that speak evil of you shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead They're gonna give an account to God just like anybody else You Know criticism comes from people Who are doing less or nothing at all for God, okay Now I want to point out in the story here and if you want to go back to mark 14 Really quickly, it's it's an interesting use of words here that Jesus uses I Believe it's there in verse 8 mark 14 when she comes and anoints him Notice in verse 6 will back up and Jesus said let her alone Why trouble ye her for she hath wrought a good work on me? For you have the poor with you always and whatsoever you will he may do them good But me have not always notice this word here she hath done what she what could Could I think that's an important word because Jesus didn't say she hath done what she should Right, and that's really what I want to preach about this morning, you know I know I just preached a whole nother sermon, but you know That's kind of all introduction is that you know There's gonna be people who those that are doing less for God or nothing at all are always going to criticize Those that are doing more and Listen, you're gonna end up doing more when you stop doing what you should do and start doing what you could do You follow what I'm saying here? Look, there's things that we all as Christians should do okay There's just things in the Christian life that are just commands in Scripture But you know Mary here she's not doing what she should she did what she could there's a difference She didn't have to break open that spikenard It's not like if she had showed up empty-handed Jesus would have been at the door going where's the spikenard Mary? You know, you're supposed to come do this This is something that out of her it was a freewill offering out of her own heart Something that she decided to do so much why because she wasn't got just gonna do what she could do Excuse me what she should do. She said I'm gonna do more than what I'm supposed to be doing She went to the next level and this is a mentality that we have to have in the Christian life Look, we can all just go through the Christian life. Just doing the bare minimum Okay, just doing the bare minimum just getting by and praise God for that That's more than a lot of Christians will do in their whole lives But you know if we're going to excel if we're gonna get to the next level as individuals as families as a church we have to stop having this mentality of am I only doing what am I doing what I should be doing and start thinking about am I doing everything that I could be doing and I'm trying to prepare you tonight that if this morning rather that if you start doing not just what you should but what you could Do there's gonna be other people that are gonna try and criticize you and bring you down But let's just look at some of the things we should be doing right if I were to give this Sermon a title besides mark 14 1 through 9. I call it should versus could should versus could There's a lot of things we should be doing if you would go to first Thessalonians chapter 4 I'll just read to you from Romans chapter number 6 The Bible says what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein Know you not that as many of us were baptized in Jesus Christ were baptized into his death Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ also was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should what should walk in newness of life You know why you should live like a child of God You know, I should live like God's child because that's exactly what you are if you're saved If you have been born again if you believed on Christ if you've been buried with by baptism into his death Through believing the gospel the death burial and resurrection of Christ. You're a new creature in Christ All things have become new. We should walk in newness of life We shouldn't be continuing in sin Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid that's what Paul said in Romans 6 now Listen, can you get saved to continue in sin you betcha? That's salvation salvation is not based on how much sin you do or don't do we've all we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God We all deserve to be punished for our sins You know, we but here's the thing, you know Christ died for our sins was buried rose again So that we don't have to pay for our sins salvation is a free gift you're saved by grace through faith that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works us Any man should bless is just freely given to us through faith It's not about the things we are or aren't doing in order to go to heaven Meaning yeah, you know what you can get saved and you can just continue to live a sinful life If that's what you want to do and still go to heaven But is that what you should do? You know, I'm married I got saved, you know 20 plus years ago since that time I got married You know I could if I wanted to go out and commit adultery on my wife and still go to heaven because me going to heaven is Based upon whether I do or don't commit adultery on my wife It's based upon whether I believe done the one thing that Jesus said we all must do to go to heaven to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ That's what I did. Does that mean I should go commit adultery on my wife That'd be a really bad idea be wicked So, you know shall we continue in sin God forbid we should walk in newness of life We should not he says there serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin What glory have you in those things of which you are now ashamed Ephesians chapter 2 I just quoted it. God had well, I'm verses 8 9 I'll read verse 10 for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works You know, it's I'm glad you got saved but God's got a will for you God has created you to be a creature that is gonna do good works for him. He's created you in Christ Jesus unto something God has a will for you to accomplish God and it's in his word. It's not some mysterious thing And he God wants you to walk in newness of life Which God hath before ordained that we should walk in and we should walk in these works that God has given us to do That's what we something we should do But it's not something you must you look at first that's loading chapter 4 verse 1 Furthermore then we beseech you brethren exhort you by the Lord Jesus Christ that as he have received us how you ought to walk And to please God how you ought to something you should do you should walk in a way that pleases God That's something you should do as a Christian So you would abound more and more verse 2 For you know what Commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus Christ for this is the will of God even your sanctification That you should abstain from fornication. That's something you should be doing as a Christian That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel and sanctification and honor not in the lust of Concupiscence even as the Gentiles which know not God You know God's will is that we do not after we get saved continue to live in fornication Continue to live in drunkenness continue to live it you know in adultery and all these sins in the lusts of concupiscence This cornucopia of sin that's just on the table for us to partake in every day of our lives You know we are not to be living in those things. That's God's will we should abstain from these things Abstain from fornication abstain, and we should we should know how to possess our vessel in sanctification. I'm talking about our body Go to Titus chapter number two Look these are things that you should be doing This is just the will of God for you your sanctification But you know this isn't anything noteworthy No, listen No one's gonna come pin a star on your chest because you quit living in fornication because you quit drinking because you quit You know being a pothead because you quit doing whatever the sin that you're not supposed to be doing Well you started possessing your your vessel and sanctification and honor you know what you just reached baseline with God You just got out of the negative and back to zero. That's what you should be doing You know so many people sometimes they come to church And then and they start cleaning up their lives a little bit And they it's like they want you know the pastor or the preachers of somebody to start come praising them for like Doing what they're supposed to be doing It's like well, yeah, I'm glad it looks like don't get me wrong I'm glad that people come to church and get cleaned up and start doing what they're supposed to be doing, but it's like You know we're not gonna. Have a bronze statue out front. You know We're not gonna. You know name that we're gonna have a day in your honor We're not gonna. You know roll out the red carpet. Oh you did what the Bible said you're supposed to do Welcome to the club You know here in a room full of people that are doing that and hopefully and look I get it's a process we work at it The Bible says in first Peter to I'll read to you here on to were you called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us An example that we should follow his steps That's something you should do you should fall in the steps of Christ. Oh, but it's so hard. It's so hard to quit sin. I know It's so hard to clean up my life and get the semi I know But that's what you're called on to because Christ also suffered for us. Oh It's so hard to quit you know committing this sin and that sin. I just don't know if I can do it Well, you know consider him who endured the cross despising the shame he have not resisted on the blood striving against sin The Bible says in Hebrews 12 We start feeling sorry for ourselves because we're you know we're trying to get right with God and think it's though It's hard, and it is hard. I don't mean to minimize it But it's like at some point. You just got to get over yourself Christ suffered for us He Suffered far more than us having to give up our our sin You know and it's like you give up some addiction you give up some sin. It's like You're actually it's actually a good thing. It's not you. I know it's hard to do, but is that really suffering Like let's just let's just use alcohol right as an example because that's a really big one. That's a big sin That's out there. That's really downplayed by society You know amongst a lot of other sins right is it really suffering for you to not be a drunk Man, it's just so hard being sober Like I get like I'd understand addiction and things like that and those are those are hard chains to breaks I understand there's suffering there But is it is it really a negative thing is it really you suffering when it's like well now I'm not gonna get you know liver disease oh Now I'm not gonna. You know get a giant nose And I'm not gonna have you know the redness of eyes oh now I'm not gonna go get in a bar fight. Oh poor me. Oh you poor thing. Oh you poor thing You're not gonna ruin your marriage. Oh you poor thing. You're not gonna ruin your family. Oh you poor thing How is that suffering remind me again? How it's a look. I know it's work. I know it's hard I know it's difficult to break habits to break the chains of addiction and sin But is it really suffering in a sense that Christ has suffered for us? You know it was hard was dragging that cross up Golgotha's Hill after having being whipped having had his beard pulled out After having a crown of thorns shoved into his head after having you know been mocked and ridiculed And then eventually to be hung up on a cross to die of asphyxiation slowly You know in open shame that that's suffering friend And anything that we're going through because it's something we should be doing you know I understand It's hard, but let's be careful not to chop that up. It's like some great spiritual sacrifice for God. You've just done what you should You should follow in his steps just as he suffered for us Look at Titus chapter 2 verse 11 for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness What's God's will for my life deny ungodliness and worldly lusts that we should live soberly? Righteously and godly in this present world that's something you're supposed to be doing right now. That's what you should do Look at go to 1st John chapter 3 1st John chapter number 3 I'm just gonna kind of scatter through these real quick 1st Peter chapter 4 it says we should we should No longer live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God That's what you should be doing folks Well I went to church this Sunday And I read my Bible Every day this week, and I prayed for at least 15 minutes, and I prayed for several people in the church I even went soul-winding good job. That's what you're supposed to be doing I Poured all the liquor out and I cleaned up my life, and I quit committing this sin and quit doing so oh good job You know That's what you're supposed to be doing We should not be living after the flesh The lusts of men, but we should be living the will of God. Oh, I'm doing the will of God good That's what you're that's what you should be doing And again don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for people that are want to live for God I'm glad for that, but I'm just here to remind you that That's just what you're supposed to be doing There's a big difference between what you should be doing and what you could be doing Hmm and some people could be doing what they should be doing okay? Hmm Where did I have you go? First John chapter 3 verse 11 for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning That we should love one another That's something we should be doing Look at verse 23 And this is the commandment that we should believe on his name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us Commandment you know there's certain Commandments like loving one another that you should just should be doing And it's amazing to me how many Christians think the commands of God are optional Jesus said you call me Lord and Master and so say ye well for so I am But then elsewhere he says why call you me Lord Lord and do not the things which I command you It makes no sense to call Jesus Lord and Master if you're not going to obey his commands Right because what are you saying when you're calling him Lord? You're basically saying yes, sir boss, right? Like if I went to work and every time my boss told me to do something I just said yes, sir, and then didn't do it. What is it? What does it mean calling them that matter at all? He's saying why would you call me Lord Master and do not the things which I command you He said you call me Lord Master and so say he well for so I am he is our Lord. He is our master But what good is it to call him that if we do not the things which he commands us and yet so many Christians today Think that you know their it's their body is theirs to do whatever they want with Their time is theirs to do whatever they want with that they had that serving God that getting sinner like it's somehow optional in the Christian life look it's a commandment He said this is a commandment He gave us Commandments that we should walk in them Go over to Luke chapter 17 Luke chapter number 17, and I'll begin wrapping up I'll read to you from 2nd John 1 and this is love that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment That as you have heard from the beginning you should walk in it Jude chapter 1 verse 3 beloved when I give all diligence to write any of the common common salvation It was needful me to write into and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith look there's things that you should be doing in the Christian life and When you do the things that you should when you start doing these things when you start abstaining from these sins when you start Possessing your vessel and sanctification and honor when you start doing the will of God Congratulations, you're out of debt you've reached zero You've just reached baseline the Christian life And now you know now you're just doing what you should You said I don't know about that okay look at you're in Luke 17 right look at verse 7 But which of you and this is Jesus speaking by the way Having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will sand him by and by when he's come from the field go and sit down to meet He's saying okay Let's say you're a guy You know that owns a farm and you have an employee a servant who's out working your field And when he comes in you say to him go eat Is that what you would say to him okay when he comes in your servant? he says and will not rather say to him make ready wherewith I may sup and Gird thyself and serve me till I have eaten and drunken and afterward thou shalt eat and drink He's saying that what you would actually do if this person's your employee if they're your servant and by the way This is before the 40-hour workweek the 8-hour day over time before all that socialist nonsense and got worked its way into our system you Know if they used to be it's like hey, you're done working the field okay servant now Make me my dinner why because you're my servant. Oh He's so mean doesn't matter. He's my servant That this is Jesus talking He's saying what you view would have a servant and then when he's done working you're not going to command him to Take care of you because he's your servant And He's saying you know that's what the servant does look at verse 9 duth he thank that servant because he did the things which were commanded him He said oh, thank you for coming in from the field where you worked my field Thank you for giving me an opportunity to pay you wages Thank you for giving me an opportunity to put food in your belly and a roof over your head Is that what he is that what we say to our employees I? Mean I know in this day and age. There's probably that's probably going on But you know that's not that's not how it's supposed to be he's saying here look You don't thank your servant for doing the things that are commanded him You tell your child you know take out the trash and they obey hopefully right away, right? They just Yes, mom. Yes, dad. They take the bag up the trash to take it out They even come back in and they put the new bag in oh Man, that's a good day Right we get excited. It's like you just went to the next level right, but do we fall down? Thank you child for taking out the trash like I told you to oh Thank you for cleaning up your room. Thank you so much No, it's like of course. That's what I commanded you. I'm your I'm your parent. That's what you're supposed to do You're supposed to obey you're supposed to do the things that you're told You know I don't go at the end of my day. You know turn in my timesheet, and then write my Supervisor a nice email saying you can thank me for doing this and thank me for doing that. Thank you It's like like yeah, that's what was on the workbench. That's what you're supposed to be doing Does he thank the servant because he did the things that which were commanded him I try not meaning. I don't think so And anyone that has any common sense in their head feels the same way Now look at verse 10 This is a parable right Jesus is using an earthly example to explain a heavenly truth About our relationship with God right he's giving us something relatable. You know when you have that employee. It's working for you You don't thank him for doing all the things that you command him You know he goes and works your field you say now make dinner And when you're done you wipe your mouth you walk away, and you don't even have to say thank you Because he's just doing the things that are commanded him. That's the way. That's that's the the You know that's the the chain of command there, that's just the way it's supposed to be That's the truth that he's trying to get us to understand on earth about our relationship with God look at verse 10 So like Elias ye when you have done all those things which are commanded you Say this when you're done doing all the things that have been commanded you this is what we're supposed to say We are unprofitable servants. We have done that which is our duty to do You know that's our attitude in the Christian life look when we do all the things that we should do All the things that are commanded us when we abstain from fornication when we abstain From drunkenness when we confess possess our vessels and sanctification and honor We start to walk in newness of life when we stop to stop doing the will of the Gentiles when we clean up our lives And get right with God and start doing the things that we're we should be doing our response should be we've done What our duty to do I'm unprofitable Me unprofitable meaning meaning, you know, I've just gotten back to baseline I'm at zero I've only done that which is my duty. That's what Jesus just got done saying You know the point I want to get this morning across is that if you want to go further in your Christian life you Have to get beyond doing just the things that you should and start doing the things that you could be doing Look it's great. Once we've done everything we should do. Let's not stop there You know a lot of people have got what they should be doing down You know, they've cleaned up their life. They don't have these sins in their life anymore. They straighten things out They've gotten right with God. They're reading their Bibles. They're praying. They're going to church. They're doing this They're doing everything that God has commanded us to do They're there that the unprofitable servant don't stop there. If you want to become profitable you then have to ask yourself What could I be doing? I've taken care of everything. I should be doing look that's a good practical tip for you kids You want to get on mom and dad's good graces? You know go ahead and do the chore list and then find something else They didn't ask you to do and do it without being asked They'll fall over You want to give the old man a heart attack, you know Get him out of your hair, you know, surprise them by doing something you did with that. He didn't even ask you to do Whatever that is, you know, I got all the cobwebs and the dust bunnies out of the corners or something I don't know. I went ahead and just clean the glass, you know windows without even been asked I went ahead just took care of that laundry took out that trash and Now you're actually somebody who's profitable because now you're doing something beyond what's just commanded you I mean, there's a lot of practical application with this dude. You want to get ahead at work? You want to get the promotion you want to get the raise don't be the guy that's just gonna do the bare minimum You know, you start at eight o'clock. Well, it's 759. I'm here You know, oh we were out at five well, it's four it's it's it's five o'clock see ya Look, I'm not saying we're just gonna give away all our time for free But you know when an employer sees somebody who's willing to go that extra mile. That's the person they're gonna keep around That's the person they're gonna promote That's the person they're gonna say this guy's profitable You know, you got to have more than a pulse Some people think that's that's enough like hey, I just show up. I've got a pulse. I'm here. I could pass the drug test It's like oh, well, you know, that's what you should do but what could you do I Could learn this skill and bring it, you know to the table I could learn this I get this certification you learn this skill and I can I could become a more profitable employee When I start stop, you know start doing the things that I could be doing and not just doing the things that I should be doing But When it comes to us and God, it's the same way You know, we should be doing The things that we should if you want to be a profitable servant start doing the things that you could be doing By going beyond what is expected now you say well, why doesn't everybody do that? Why doesn't everybody just start doing the things that they could because it requires sacrifice It requires sacrifice and a lot of people just aren't willing to do that Go back to our story mark chapter 14 verse 8 she hath done what she could She has come beforehand to anoint my body to the burying Verse 9 mark 14 verily saying to you wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world This also that she hath done shall be spoken for memorial memorial of her and here we are this morning Talking about Mary and this very story those words have just come true But consider what Mary did she did what she could not just what she should and What when she did that when she did what she could it required a sacrifice didn't it? That that spiken art. I don't know that the day she went and bought that spike Nard that precious ointment that she had this in mind Maybe she wouldn't out and bought it just before it. I don't know You know, maybe she had it laid up in some Treasure box somewhere some vanity chest. I don't know what girls have Vanity chest, I don't know what girls have in their bedrooms You know, she's got a special place myself and you know one day Your wedding day or some special anniversary. She's gonna break that up You know, she had a something in mind for that But then Jesus came along and Jesus worked in her life and Jesus started doing things for her Braised her brother healed the lepers preached sermons. This is the same Mary that previously had sat at his feet Remember that and Martha was coming about with much serving But Mary sat at his feet and he said Martha thou art comfort about with much serving But Mary hath chosen that better part and shall not be taken from her. You know, she sat at the feet of Jesus She's listened to him. She loves God and she just wants to do something for him it but he required a sacrifice It required that precious ointment being broken open and poured upon him You know doing More will require you enduring Criticism and scorn, you know, you just start doing the things that you could I mean that you should just start there Start doing the things that you should and just brace for impact because people are gonna start leveling Accusations people start criticizing you make the same speaking evil of you because you're on not the same excess riot as they do Okay That's that's just gonna come with doing the things that you should be doing But when you decide to do the things that you could be doing You know you say hey, I've been reading my Bible I'm gonna start memorizing some scripture Hey, you know, I I've been going to the Sunday morning service. I'm gonna go to a Sunday night service Subtle hint Hey, you know, I've started reading my Bible go to church I'm gonna find out what the soul winning things about, you know, that's you doing more that's you doing where you're at You know, you're doing the things you should What could you be doing though? How could you improve what what you know? Whatever it is, it's gonna cost you something and it's gonna cost you the most precious thing any of us have time that's the most precious commodity any of us have is our time and Serving God takes time It's gonna take that time. That's a sacrifice. You're gonna have to be willing to make All I'm saying is that it's worth it It's worth it. I don't care what the naysayers say. Oh, oh, you know, you could you could be a Why are you pastoring a church? You know, you could be working on a career where you make a whole lot more money You know, you could be bettering yourself getting an education and going on to some, you know, huge income or something Yeah, maybe I don't know apparently don't know me though I'm dumber than I look trust me, right? Yeah, maybe but you know what what's in it some earthly reward. Oh I you know, why are you going to church on Sunday morning? Don't you know you could be at home in your PJs watching the morning, whatever on TV What do you mean you're going to church again? Didn't you just go there earlier this week? What do you mean you're gonna spend your time reading your Bible? What do you mean? You know, there's gonna be criticized criticism It's gonna cost you something But it's worth it at the end of the day look it's worth it to pastor a church and see lives change and souls get saved What price are you gonna put on that? It's worth it for you to come to church and hear the preaching word of God and start to put these things to work in your life It's worth it for you to make the sacrifices that you need to make In order to go beyond just doing the things that you should be doing and start doing the things that you could be doing Let's go ahead close the word of prayer your Lord again