Matthew 26:6-13

[0:00] Good evening. Good evening. We're in the Old Testament this morning, but this evening we'll be in the New Testament.! The Gospel of Matthew 26.

[0:15] In the Garden of Gethsemane last week.

[0:33] But this week we're going closer to the beginning of the chapter this evening. But in short, I mean, I like to give an indication of where we are in Scripture.

[0:48] You know, if I'm taking a passage or even just a single verse to preach on it, you can't get much plainer than we're at the end of Christ's ministry here, His earthly ministry.

[1:01] You know, the cross is blooming at this point. And Christ is very well aware of that. This account that we're going to read here about this woman anointing Christ, it's not very many verses, just a few verses we're going to read tonight.

[1:19] And you also find this account in Mark. Some would say that you find it in John's Gospel as well, in John chapter 12. There's some minor differences there, though. I'll let you all come to your own conclusions on that, as far as whether Mary, who does the anointing in John chapter 12, is the same woman that's brought up here in Matthew 26, and in Mark's Gospel as well.

[1:47] One takes place two days before the Passover. The other takes place six days before the Passover. One of them has the feet of Jesus being anointed. One of them has the head of Jesus Christ being anointed.

[1:58] And I said, I'll let you draw your own conclusions. But as far as Matthew's account goes, this woman is unnamed. We don't know what her name is.

[2:09] We also find here that Christ is in Bethany in the same town, same little village, just on the other side of the Mount of Olives. But here he is in the house of one named Simon the leper.

[2:22] However, he was at Lazarus' house. Lazarus and Mary and Martha in John's account. Once again, I'll allow you all to draw your own conclusions as far as that goes.

[2:32] But we're at the end of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Again, Jerusalem is right over the hill. Christ has set His face like a flint toward Jerusalem.

[2:43] There was no turning back. He knew that the cross was there. He knew that it was imminent. He knew that what He would suffer. He had been telling His disciples for over three years that He would be handed over into the hands of sinful men.

[2:56] He would be given over into the hands of the elders and the scribes and the chief priests and all these things. He had been telling them and warning them, I must be killed.

[3:06] I must be given over. I am the sacrifice. I am the Messiah. I am the promised one. But I must be killed. And these things must happen. And again, this is literally right over the hill from where they are at this point in Matthew's gospel.

[3:22] So as we're going through these few verses tonight, keep that in mind. Keep in mind the darkness that was starting to gather around the entire gospel account, the darkness of the crucifixion.

[3:37] And, you know, you and I, we look at it in human terms and think about the suffering. We think about the mockery that Jesus Christ suffered. We think about the shame that He took upon Himself.

[3:48] And it paints, in human terms, it paints a very bleak picture. But folks, I am thankful and I praise God that He took my shame. And I praise God that He took my sin upon Him.

[4:00] The Bible teaches that He that knew no sin became sin for us. And I am thankful to Almighty God that Jesus Christ willingly went to the cross for that.

[4:11] But here we're going to see this act of devotion and an act of worship by a woman. In the midst of all this darkness, she shines a really bright light that we're going to read about here in Matthew's gospel in chapter 6.

[4:24] This chapter, it begins with Christ making a very somber statement. He says, in two days is the feast of Passover. And I must be killed. I must be given over.

[4:35] He says, I must be crucified. And then we read about the elders. They've gathered at Caiaphas' palace. And they're conspiring to kill Him.

[4:47] They say, not on the feast day though. Because there'll be an uproar. There'll be a tumult. There'll be turmoil if we do that amongst the Jewish people. If we do this on the feast day.

[4:58] But keep in mind, not only has this happened, but deception and betrayal is already stirring around in the heart of Judas Iscariot. All of these things are going on when we read this account here.

[5:12] This woman paying this devotion to Jesus Christ. So we'll pick up in verse 6 of Matthew 26. And I'm going to say what nobody wants to hear a preacher say.

[5:23] I don't expect to be before you very long tonight. I don't expect to be before you very long. We're going to read verses 6 through 13 here. So Matthew 26, starting at verse 6.

[5:33] It says, Back to verse 6 in Matthew 26.

[6:25] Matthew 26. Now when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. And this verse in and of itself, you could preach an entire sermon on this one verse here.

[6:37] The sixth verse of Matthew 26. Again, it says, Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper. I don't know. You Bible readers should know if you've ever read through the book of Leviticus.

[6:50] And even a little dab in the book of Numbers. You should know that leprosy was not something to be played with. You should know that leprosy was a horrible condition.

[7:01] It was a horrible physical condition to fall upon any person. It was a condition where the skin would literally run off of a person. There were chapters in the book of Leviticus as far as what had to be done for a person that even thought that they had leprosy.

[7:20] They had to present themselves before the priest. The priest had to pronounce them either clean or unclean. But not only did this leprosy defile the person. It defiled the clothing that they were wearing.

[7:32] It defiled the household that they were in. It defiled every aspect of this person. It defiled every aspect of their lives. But this man, Simon the leper, we can rightfully assume that this was a leper that Jesus Christ had healed.

[7:46] Lord, I'm glad that my Jesus was not afraid to touch the leper. I'm glad that my Jesus was not afraid to reach down and touch the lepers, to heal the lepers. These lepers were forced to live outside of town, to live outside of the main gist of things, outside of everyone else in their own colonies.

[8:06] And if anyone approached them or came even close to them, they had to say, unclean, unclean. They had to announce that they were unclean. But folks, the gospel itself is in this one single verse that Jesus Christ was sitting in the house of a former leper in a place where defilement once was, in a place where rottenness once was, in a place where wickedness once was, in a place where this man was cast off from everyone and anyone that he had ever known, including spouse, including children, including everyone.

[8:39] Jesus Christ was in this man's house. And not only was he in his house, but he was dining with him. He was fellowshipping with him. I'm glad that Jesus Christ dines with the leper.

[8:50] He dines with those that are in need. He dines with all of those. And he has fellowship with the broken. Hallelujah. You can preach the entire gospel from that one verse.

[9:01] From this one verse, Christ is in the house of Simon the leper. And again, we can rightfully assume, Scripture doesn't tell us, but we can rightfully assume this was a leper that Christ himself had healed.

[9:14] And they were having a celebratory feast because of that healing. Folks, I can celebrate every day because I was healed spiritually. I can celebrate every day because Jesus Christ reached down.

[9:26] He picked me up out of the muck and mire. He set my feet upon the solid ground. And he established my going. I can celebrate Jesus Christ every day of my life because of that, because of the gospel that saved my soul.

[9:40] It's good news. The gospel is good news. It's good news to those that are unworthy. That's every one of us. It's good news to those that don't deserve it. That's every one of us.

[9:50] None of us deserve heaven. Every one of us deserve the flames of hell for all of eternity. But Jesus Christ came that you and I could have life and have love more abundantly.

[10:01] Hallelujah. That's my Savior, but we find our Savior, Jesus Christ, here in the house of one called Simon the leper. Verse 7, There came unto Him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment and poured it on His head as He sat at me.

[10:17] So this woman comes. Again, in Matthew's gospel, she is unnamed. We don't know who this woman is. But she comes to Jesus uninvited. Folks, this was taboo in this culture.

[10:29] There was a celebration that was going on here. And there were men all around. And this woman comes in on the scene, uninvited. No one had asked her to come, but she comes with her alabaster box.

[10:41] This alabaster box, it would have been something fancy. It was carved out of a stone that was very similar to marble, but much softer. And this alabaster box, folks, this was precious to this woman.

[10:52] The Bible says it had precious ointment. Within it, this ointment was likely worth about a year's wages. And this woman comes with this alabaster box. We don't know why she had it.

[11:03] We don't know how she obtained it. More than likely, it was part of a dowry or something along those lines. But folks, this was something that was significant to this woman. It was something that was costly to this woman.

[11:14] And it was something. This alabaster box was everything to this woman. And where does she bring it to? She brings it to the Lord Jesus Christ. She brings it to Him and she breaks it open and she pours the contents of it out on the Savior's head.

[11:29] This is devotion and this is what true worship looks like. And that's how every one of us should worship Jesus Christ. Christ didn't save us to get our leftovers.

[11:40] We should give Christ our all. We should give Christ our all. She didn't go out to the store and buy the next cheapest thing. She didn't bring something that was worth less.

[11:53] She brought something that was worth everything to her. And she broke it. And she poured it out over the Savior's head. There came to Him a woman having an alabaster box, a very precious woman, and poured it on His head as He sat at me.

[12:08] She breaks in on this meeting. She breaks in on this fellowship between these men. And she takes the contents of this box. She breaks it open, folks. There was nothing that could be done at that point.

[12:20] Nothing. She couldn't take the ointment and put it back in and put the box back together. She knew what she was doing, though. She knew that she was worshiping God. She knew that she was worshiping Christ.

[12:31] She knew that He was worthy. And we should know, being Christians in the New Testament church, how worthy Jesus Christ is. This woman knew how worthy He was.

[12:42] He hadn't even made it to the cross yet. He hadn't even made it to the cross yet. And she knew just how much He was worth. And she knew that she should give her all unto Him.

[12:53] Folks, I ain't telling you to go home and sell your houses and sell your cars and all these other things and give to the church. I would never, ever preach that. I've never even preached a sermon on tithing.

[13:06] What you give to the church, what you give to the local assembly is between you and God. But if you want a place where you can come and gather and fellowship, you want a place that's got lights and flushing toilets, you want a place that's got running water, you want a place that's got heat and air and all these things, you ought to be putting a little bit in the plate.

[13:25] And that's all I'll say about that. Amen. I do not preach tithing. God's never laid that on me. To do so. And praise God, I hope that He never does.

[13:36] But, this woman saw the worth of Christ. And she gave Christ her all. She gave Him the absolute best that she had. And what happens?

[13:47] Verse 8, But when the disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? Don't that sound like a bunch of church folk to you? It does to me.

[13:59] Sounds like a bunch of church folk. To what purpose is this waste? And here it says the disciples. It wasn't just one. In John's account, where something very similar is going on, it narrows it down to Judas Iscariot that says this.

[14:14] But in Matthew's account here, and in Mark's as well, it's pluralized. The disciples. Now, Judas may have very well led the charge, but the disciples were at the very least complicit in what was said.

[14:27] And they agreed with what was said. And shame on them. You'd think that they would have learned. Not long before this, in Mark's Gospel, they were coming out of Jericho.

[14:38] Y'all have heard the story. There was a blind man named Bartimaeus that started screaming for the Lord Jesus. He said, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And what did those that followed Christ say?

[14:51] Hold your peace. Hold your peace. You shut your mouth. You shut your mouth. But praise God. I thank God for Mark's account. It says he cried even more, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

[15:05] And they called Jesus to stop in his tracks. And he stopped. And he said, bring him to me. They told him, be of good comfort. The Master calleth for thee.

[15:15] The Master calls you. You'd think that they would have learned something. from that. But obviously not. And that wasn't long before this right here happened. In fact, when they left Jericho, they were on their way to Jerusalem.

[15:27] They stopped in Bethany for a pit stop. That's where we're at right now. That's where we're at. These disciples, it was hard to drill it into their heads. Just like it is us.

[15:38] 2,000 years later, it's hard to get some things through our heads. These disciples said, to what purpose is this waste? Folks, it wasn't wasteful. This was worship.

[15:48] To Jesus Christ. And anything that you put toward Jesus Christ. Anything that you do for Jesus Christ. Anything that you do toward Jesus Christ. Or for the purpose of the kingdom of God.

[16:02] It is not a waste. There is nothing that we can do for Jesus Christ. If our heart is right, and our intentions are right, and our motives are right, there is nothing that we can do that is a waste toward God.

[16:16] But these disciples here, these men that had followed Him around for three years, they had seen the blind eyes open. Brother Mike's already brought it up tonight. They had seen all the miracles. Blind eyes open.

[16:27] Lame people were made to walk. Deaf ears were unstuck. All of these things had happened. They had witnessed these things. They had heard Him preach the sermon on the mount. They had seen Him perform miracles. They had heard Him teach how you are to treat others.

[16:41] They had seen it all and heard it all. And yet they say, to what purpose is this waste? In the darkness of the cross that was taking place just over the hill, not long from where we are at right now in the Scriptures, in that darkness, there was one person, a woman that discerned the hour.

[17:04] She understood the hour. And she understood what was going on. She understood that Jesus Christ must be crucified. She understood what He said at the beginning of the chapter.

[17:14] She got that. But those that had been with Him for three plus years didn't get it. The only one to understand it was this unnamed woman here in Matthew's Gospel.

[17:26] When the disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, to what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor. This was, again, if you read the similar account in John's Gospel, in John chapter 12, you'll see it's Judas Iscariot that said this very thing.

[17:43] But here it's the disciples. And it's plural. All of them, once again, if Judas said it, they all agreed with what Judas was saying. Folks, sometimes, sometimes we, sometimes we will hide our motives behind a cloak of holiness.

[17:59] And every Christian's been guilty of it at some point. Every Christian has been guilty of it. Well, I'm just trying to be a good steward. No, you just don't want to give. That's all it boils down to.

[18:10] I'm just trying to do that. And I'm just trying to do this. No, I just don't want to obey what the Bible says. Every one of us have been guilty of it. And so, look at me like I've got three heads. You're just as guilty of it as I am.

[18:22] Every one of us have been guilty of it. This ointment, this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor. It's specified in John's Gospel and could have been sold for 300 pence and given to the poor.

[18:34] But folks, Judas Iscariot, his problem was he never got rid, he never got rid of his love of money. He never got, he never got rid of his love for darkness and his love of sin.

[18:46] The Bible says in John's Gospel that he had the bag and that he was a thief. And that's the only reason that he would have wanted that money. He wouldn't have wanted to have dispersed it to the poor. He wouldn't have wanted to have done any of those things.

[18:57] He wanted it for himself. And we're just as guilty if we ain't careful. If we ain't careful. I know the, I know the missions need help.

[19:09] I know the missionaries need help. But you know, there's a new video game came out. I've actually heard young men make that argument. I'll catch up with, I'll catch up with the missionaries in a couple of months.

[19:22] Folks, this whole account here, this whole account here is about seizing a moment. Amen. This is about seizing a moment. I preached last week, as I've already said, out of Matthew 26 and the prayer at Gethsemane.

[19:35] Three times, Jesus Christ went and prayed. Three times he came back and he found the disciples asleep. They missed their opportunity. He said, watch with me and watch with me and pray that you enter not into temptation.

[19:47] They missed their opportunity. The third time when he came back, he said, sleep on. Continue doing what you're doing because the opportunity to pray and to gain strength from that prayer is gone.

[19:59] Everything's in motion now. My betrayer comes. He's going to come. He's going to give me a kiss. They're going to arrest me. Your time for prayer is over with for this particular matter.

[20:09] Folks, this is all about seizing a moment. And this woman seized a moment. She seized a moment. She had discernment. She understood what was going on. And she seized that moment. When Jesus understood it, verse 10, when Jesus understood it, he said unto them, why trouble ye the woman?

[20:25] For she hath wrought a good work upon me. When Jesus understood, when he understood what they were saying, now this kind of intimation, they didn't actually outright say the words, but Jesus understood their hearts.

[20:37] He understood their mind. He understood what was going on in the minds and the hearts of these disciples. You read in John's Gospel in chapter 2 that Jesus Christ knew the heart of everyone. He knew the heart of everyone that he ever came into contact with.

[20:50] He knows the hearts of us right now. He'll know the heart of everyone in the future. And he's known the heart of everyone in the past. He knows the hearts and the intentions of man.

[21:02] He says here again, it says, when Jesus understood it, he saith unto them, why trouble ye the woman? Folks, this is the shepherd. This is the shepherd rising to defend the sheep.

[21:14] He said, why trouble you the woman? She's wrought a good work upon me. And folks, that's very personal. She's done something wonderful. She's done something, if you read this in the original Greek, it's actually beautiful in the eyes of Jesus Christ.

[21:29] He says, she's done something beautiful. She's wrought a good work upon me. This is personal. It's a work that she has worked upon him. Not for him. Not for his cause, but upon him personally.

[21:42] Folks, when we offer worship unto God, it's between us and Almighty God. And it is a personal thing. It is God that saved my soul. It wasn't any preacher.

[21:53] It wasn't any pastor. It wasn't any denomination. It wasn't any him. It was none of those things. It was Almighty God that saved my soul through the blood of Jesus Christ. And it is him that I worship.

[22:05] And I worship him personally. When we worship God, it's a personal experience. God might not have saved you out of the same things that he saved me out of, but he saved us all out of sin.

[22:17] Your sin might have been different than mine, mine different from yours. But we were all sinners. The Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And we all deserve death. The Bible says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

[22:31] The wages of sin is death. That is what we've earned. We've earned death. But praise God, that verse goes on. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

[22:41] But Jesus here rises to defend his follower, to defend this woman that has given him rightful worship, to defend this woman that has come and broken it out and given her all to him.

[22:52] He rises in defense of her. And he says, when Jesus understood it, he said unto them, why trouble you the woman? For she has wrought a good work upon me. How much of a kick to the shins should that have been to those disciples?

[23:08] Here they are, fussing about money. Here's Judas plotting to betray Jesus Christ. Here's the other disciples fussing about money.

[23:19] Fussing about, well, she shouldn't have done this. We could have helped the poor. We could have done this. We could have done that. And Jesus says, why are you bothering with this at all? Why are you bothering her? She has done the good work.

[23:31] Not you all. Not in your piety. When you come to me and you say, well, this could have been sold. I'm sure that they puffed their chests out when they said that.

[23:41] This could have been sold and given to the poor. Jesus addresses all that right here in the next couple of verses. For you have the poor always with you, but me you have not always.

[23:52] Jesus quotes from the book of Deuteronomy here. Deuteronomy in chapter 15 where God tells the Israelites, the poor will never cease from your land. Jesus says here, for you have the poor always with you, but me you have not always.

[24:09] He says, for in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. But first he addresses this situation. The poor you'll have with you always, but folks, this is the last shot that this woman had.

[24:23] This is the last shot that any of them had to honor Christ before the cross. And once again, this woman is the only one that seized on it.

[24:35] She's the only one that recognized it. She's the only one that recognized the moment. She's the only one that understood what was going on. And shame on us.

[24:45] Shame on these disciples that have been with him for three years. Shame on us that have been saved for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years for not discerning the moment. And this goes just as much for lost people too.

[24:57] Folks, you've got to discern the moment. If you're here lost tonight, you've got to discern the moment. As Brother Mike's already said tonight, you will not come of your own accord. You will not go to God any time that you please.

[25:08] Jesus Christ said, said no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. And Jesus Christ also said, no man can come unto me, except that the Father draws him. Amen. You will not go on your own accord.

[25:19] You'll go when the Spirit of God deals with you. You'll go when the Spirit of God is ringing your heart, showing you what a filthy sinner you are, showing you how much you deserve hell. And showing you what a Savior that you have in Jesus Christ.

[25:31] If you will only accept Him. That's when you can come to God. That's when you can come to Christ and receive salvation. For ye have the poor always with you, but me, ye have not always.

[25:41] Folks, Jesus Christ was not dismissing the poor when He said this. He was not dismissing. Jesus Christ taught the disciples and taught those people everywhere that He went that they were to take care of the poor.

[25:52] God Almighty in the Old Testament taught His people to take care of the poor. They were to have provision for the poor. We read in the book of James, He says, this is religion undefiled to take care of the orphans and the widows, those that are poor, those that cannot do for themselves.

[26:10] So Jesus Christ here was not dismissing the poor. He was saying, but you need to prioritize some things. this moment was here at this time and it was about to pass.

[26:23] That's exactly what He was getting at. The poor you have always with you, but me, the Savior, the Son, the Messiah, the promised one, do not always have here with you.

[26:36] That's what He was getting at. For in that heap, for in that she poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. This woman, do you think for one moment that she really understood, that she grasped, folks, she didn't have the Scriptures like we do.

[26:52] This Scripture was being written about her. It wasn't written at that time. It's being written about her. Do you think that she knew about the burial that was coming up?

[27:04] Do you think that she had heard that Jesus Christ said just a few verses before this that He would be crucified? Do you think that she knew these things? Folks, if she didn't know because she had heard, it had to have been revealed to her by Almighty God.

[27:18] She knew something was going on. And that's why she sees the moment. Again, if you're here lost, you're undone without Almighty God. You know good and well you're on that broad path to hell.

[27:30] God is the only one that can help you with that. God is the only one that can save your soul. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that was lost. He came to save sinners. Paul said, this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

[27:46] He came to save you and He came to save me. We have all sinned and come short of God's glory. For in that she poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

[27:58] Folks, this is something that was normally done before the people were buried. In Hebrew culture, that's how it was taken care of. But Jesus, He would suffer the death of a criminal in your stead and in my stead.

[28:13] He was treated as a criminal. He was killed as a criminal. They took Him down and hastily buried Him. Why? Because the Passover was coming up. They didn't want Him hanging there on that tree while all the festivities were going on because God's law spoke against that very thing.

[28:30] Ain't that something? All them religious leaders and Pharisees and them chief priests so concerned about the law of God and they crucified the one that kept it perfectly. Ain't that something?

[28:41] That's a whole other sermon. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her.

[28:56] Verily I say unto you, verily. This means pay attention to what I'm saying. This is where we get the word Amen from. That's the Greek word that's used here.

[29:07] It means truly. It means so be it. It means all these things. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world.

[29:18] Wow, this gospel, folks. The gospel was not accomplished just yet. Christ hadn't been to the cross. He hadn't been crucified at this point. But Christ here says, Wheresoever this gospel is preached in the entire world, this account of what this woman shall be preached as well as a memorial to her.

[29:39] How so? Folks, when she broke that box, when she broke that box and she poured out what she had, Christ's body was broken when He was on the cross.

[29:50] And it began before He even reached the cross. But His body was broken and His blood, everything that He had was poured out on your behalf and on my behalf.

[30:01] And God Almighty gave His precious Son, gave the very best that He had for you and for me. This gospel, when this gospel is preached, this woman, the account of what this woman has done shall be preached right along with it.

[30:17] It needs to be told. And here we are 2,000 years later still talking about this woman and what she did. But folks, the entire gist of this small passage of Scripture that we went through tonight, it costs you something to worship God.

[30:31] It costs something to give true blue worship to Almighty God. It has cost people things in the beginning. It cost this woman her ointment, but she had no problem at all breaking that alabaster box and pouring it over the Savior of the entire world.

[30:48] But worship has always cost something. always. From the Old Testament on into the New Testament. Paul told Timothy right towards the end of 2 Timothy, right towards the end of his letter, he said, I'm ready to be offered.

[31:04] He's ready. He had worshipped God. He had worshipped Christ. He had preached Christ. He had done everything that he could. He said, I'm ready to be offered. My road's done.

[31:15] He said, I'll finish the race. You read about a man named Arana in 2 Samuel. Right at the end of 2 Samuel, David goes to him.

[31:26] David had numbered the Israelites, which he wasn't supposed to do. That was a sin. That was against what God had said. He had numbered the Israelites. God sent an angel.

[31:37] The angel took out 70,000 people in the tribe of Dan. David sees the angel. God calls a cease to what's going on. David says, what do I need to do? God says, go to the man Arana.

[31:50] You buy his threshing floor. And you erect an altar there unto me. And Arana wants to give it to David. David was king. He was king over Israel.

[32:01] And Arana knew that. And he says, I'm going to give you this. I'll not only give you this, I'll give you livestock. I'll give you everything that you need. And David says, this is not going to cost me anything. I cannot offer it to the Lord.

[32:14] Folks, your worship will cost you. It will cost you. It will cost you something. It will cost you friends. It will cost you family. It will cost you dignity sometimes.

[32:25] It will cost you any host of things. But folks, is it not worth it? Is it not worth it? Yes, it's worth it. For He saved our souls from the hell that we all deserve.

[32:39] Yes, He's worth our worship. It will cost you something, though. Don't let anybody tell you that it won't. Because it will. The Bible teaches over and over that worship costs. We're to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.

[32:58] It will cost us something. It might cost us our lives. There have been many Christians over the ages that have literally given their lives. Paul gave his life. Peter gave his life.

[33:08] All the disciples, save John, gave their lives, and John did too. John was dipped in boiling oil.

[33:19] You don't find that in the Bible, but you find it in extra biblical scripture and it's been verified. He dipped in boiling oil. He gave his life. He spent years on an island called Patmos, which is where he wrote the book of Revelation, where all that was revealed to him.

[33:34] John gave his life. But you've got people in even more modern centuries like William Tyndale that was martyred by the Catholic Church for doing what?

[33:47] For simply putting the Bible into English. He put the Bible into English. Just a few hundred years ago that happened. So it's not just in the Bible times that we read about stuff like that.

[33:58] There's people right now that are persecuted for their faith, but folks, that does not stop them from worshiping God. That does not stop them stop them. Your worship will cost you. It may very well cost you your life.

[34:11] Now, the question now, Christians, those of you in the bride of Christ, the question now is are you giving your all to God such as this woman did?

[34:22] Are you giving Him everything? Are you breaking out your alabaster box and pouring out your life? Are you pouring out your own dreams, your own desires, your own wants in this life and saying, Christ, I give it all to you.

[34:37] You do with it what you want. Are you like that? Or lost person? Are you like Judas? Never received the grace of God. You won't let go of your sin.

[34:50] You won't let go of your want of sin, your want of things, your want of money, your want of everything. Folks, that's prideful. That's saying this is more important than God is.

[35:01] And there is nothing more important than God. And there is nothing more important than eternity and where your soul is going to spend all of eternity. Think on these things. God bless you all. I appreciate your attention and your time.