Mary's Miraculous Faith, Hope, and Love (John 12:1-11)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:05.280 Let's give our attention to John, Chapter Twelve, of verses one through eleven. 2 00:00:08.109 --> 00:00:13.349 Six days before the Passover, Jesy Jesus therefore came to Bethany where. 3 00:00:13.390 --> 00:00:18.149 Lazarus was whom Jesus had raised from the dead, so they gave a dinner 4 00:00:18.190 --> 00:00:22.579 for him. there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining 5 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:28.820 with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from 6 00:00:28.899 --> 00:00:34.179 pure nerd and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. 7 00:00:35.259 --> 00:00:40.570 The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas is 8 00:00:40.689 --> 00:00:45.450 scary, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him, 9 00:00:45.770 --> 00:00:50.200 said why was this ointment not sold for three hundred Dinari and given to the 10 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:56.799 poor? He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because 11 00:00:56.840 --> 00:01:00.039 he was a thief and, having charge of the money bag, he used 12 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:07.469 it to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, leave 13 00:01:07.510 --> 00:01:11.390 her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial, 14 00:01:11.310 --> 00:01:15.430 for the poor you always have with you, but you do not always 15 00:01:15.870 --> 00:01:19.780 have me. God bless his word to us. He may be seated. 16 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:53.680 This is a remarkable story almost every detail of this story is remarkable in some 17 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:01.189 amazing way, and usually at many different levels. I don't think there's any 18 00:02:01.310 --> 00:02:06.829 possible way that I could cover all that I would like to cover this morning, 19 00:02:07.629 --> 00:02:12.550 so forgive me if there are UN if I leave you with unanswered questions. 20 00:02:13.270 --> 00:02:15.740 But the good news is you have lots of brothers and sisters around you 21 00:02:15.939 --> 00:02:22.500 and you can continue to discuss, and I hope you will afterward. These 22 00:02:22.539 --> 00:02:27.300 things are worthy not of only of discussion, but of reflection and of treasuring 23 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:31.650 in our hearts. There are some very significant contrasts in this passage. You 24 00:02:31.770 --> 00:02:39.689 Have Judas, for example, helping himself and Mary acting as a helpless one 25 00:02:40.050 --> 00:02:46.680 at the feet of Jesus, giving her everything to him. One Who helps 26 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:52.120 himself and takes care of himself through his own way is and another WHO's entirely 27 00:02:52.199 --> 00:02:59.189 dependent and in love with the Lord. You have this concerned for the poor, 28 00:02:59.949 --> 00:03:06.310 false pretend righteousness and, of course, a true understanding of our times 29 00:03:06.430 --> 00:03:13.500 and places. Jesus also wants to remind us of the Times he will be 30 00:03:13.699 --> 00:03:16.300 with them and the Times that he will not. This, of course, 31 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:21.419 doesn't mean that our Lord is absent from us even now, but he speaks 32 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:27.569 in terms of his humanity. He and his humanity is not here. If 33 00:03:27.650 --> 00:03:30.689 he were, then he wouldn't be somewhere else, and which is, as 34 00:03:30.770 --> 00:03:36.050 we have confessed, is in heaven. Is True. Human Nature is like 35 00:03:36.250 --> 00:03:39.370 our human natures, only in one place at one time. Of course, 36 00:03:39.409 --> 00:03:44.319 in his divinity he is everywhere, present and always present. But here he 37 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.199 speaks according to his humanity and he says, I won't always be here, 38 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:52.599 and so there's a time for some things and not a time for some things. 39 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:55.310 The poor you will always have with you, he says, but you 40 00:03:55.430 --> 00:04:04.189 do not always have me. In this he grounds marries surprising and remarkable actions 41 00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:12.939 in something that's special and extraordinary. I'm. He doesn't give Mary's example. 42 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:16.019 Is something that is to be I'm, followed and done, for example, 43 00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:20.660 every Sunday at Church or in our homes, every time we meet. This 44 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:27.449 is he grounds it in something that is particular and extraordinary, his time there 45 00:04:27.569 --> 00:04:32.610 and, even more narrowly, his death. He says in verse seven, 46 00:04:32.649 --> 00:04:38.720 leave her alone so that she may keep it, or this may be better 47 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:41.600 translated, as you might see in a footnote. Leave her alone. She 48 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:46.240 intended to keep it, or this was to for her to use, as 49 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:51.720 he says in the other gospels, for my burial. She recognizes somehow the 50 00:04:51.800 --> 00:05:00.509 Jesus is about to die and for this purpose she anoints him. One of 51 00:05:00.550 --> 00:05:03.829 the most important contrasts, another one that we see in this book, is 52 00:05:03.910 --> 00:05:11.899 the contrast between different ways in which people approach or connect with Jesus, if 53 00:05:11.899 --> 00:05:18.420 I could use those terms, very general ways, the way we react when 54 00:05:18.500 --> 00:05:25.250 we encounter him, not just Judas and Mary, but the crowds as well. 55 00:05:26.250 --> 00:05:30.769 We see in the crowds waiting to waiting for Jesus to come to Jerusalem. 56 00:05:30.810 --> 00:05:35.399 Will he come? What's going to happen? They're curious, they're excited. 57 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:40.360 It's the thing in the news. They everybody wants to to follow and 58 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:44.959 find out about. Many want to know about Jesus. Are Reacting to him 59 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:51.470 and his presence in the world with the interest of Gawkers, with the interest 60 00:05:51.550 --> 00:05:58.110 perhaps of persecutors. There are many who are trying to arrest but then there 61 00:05:58.110 --> 00:06:01.310 are others like Mary and Martha and Lazarus and, as we know from the 62 00:06:01.350 --> 00:06:06.860 other gospels, a man named Simon, who in whose house they are, 63 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:12.819 who aren't there to Gawk at Jesus, aren't there to arrest him. Aren't 64 00:06:12.860 --> 00:06:16.420 there to just sort of be moved along with the crowds, but to serve 65 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:24.209 him, to love him. I love this little note of hospitality in Verse 66 00:06:24.329 --> 00:06:29.209 Two. So they gave a dinner for him there. It's very simple right. 67 00:06:29.250 --> 00:06:32.839 Jesus came to Bethany were Lazarus was, so they gave him dinner. 68 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:41.360 I love that. The Westminster shorter catechism, one of the standards of our 69 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:45.240 faith, one of the ways in which we confess our faith, rightly tells 70 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:48.870 us that our chief end are the purpose for which God made us was to 71 00:06:49.029 --> 00:06:56.589 glorify him and to enjoy him forever. Don't you see that in Mary's actions 72 00:06:56.709 --> 00:07:04.500 here? She is very excited, very consumed, we might say, with 73 00:07:04.779 --> 00:07:13.579 glorifying the Lord and enjoying him. Compare that with Judas, who is only 74 00:07:13.779 --> 00:07:21.930 concerned about himself, only concerned about himself. In Judas we see a great 75 00:07:23.370 --> 00:07:28.970 tragedy as he is consumed by his own desires, as he is missing the 76 00:07:29.089 --> 00:07:32.920 most important thing that has ever happened in the history of the world, Jesus 77 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:39.680 Christ, the son of God incarnate, right there the same room with him. 78 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:44.790 He a disciple of Jesus. John says, one who followed Jesus was 79 00:07:45.029 --> 00:07:49.990 hearing Jesus, knowing Jesus. He had just seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the 80 00:07:50.069 --> 00:07:56.829 dead. He had seen Jesus forgives sins and do miracles. He had seen 81 00:07:56.910 --> 00:08:03.379 Jesus Prophesy things which had come true. He had seen Jesus speak with authority. 82 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:09.740 He had heard the word of God. He was a disciple. And 83 00:08:09.779 --> 00:08:13.490 yet, of course he was also not a disciple, not a true disciple, 84 00:08:13.649 --> 00:08:22.050 not a disciple in his heart, maybe just in his feet. But 85 00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:33.639 in Mary we see something very different. She takes the a pound of expensive 86 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:41.629 ointment of pure Nord it says. Perhaps you've seen some sort of expensive oil 87 00:08:41.830 --> 00:08:48.990 for sale. They usually don't come in the pound, right, they usually 88 00:08:50.029 --> 00:08:54.669 come in tidy little vials, right. That would fit in your pocket or 89 00:08:54.710 --> 00:08:58.299 your purse or something like that, tiny little things. Mary takes a pound 90 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:03.379 of the stuff. She it's held, other gospels tell us, in this 91 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:09.009 alabaster flask. She breaks it over his head. There's so much of it 92 00:09:09.169 --> 00:09:15.409 that it runs down even to her feet, where then she bends down in 93 00:09:15.570 --> 00:09:22.889 this incredibly intimate act and wipes his feet with her hair. No wonder the 94 00:09:22.970 --> 00:09:31.120 whole house smells this fragrant smell of this of this expensive Nord. How expensive 95 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:37.590 was this? One commentator I read calculated the figure in two thousand in the 96 00:09:37.590 --> 00:09:41.549 Ar two thousand. If I'm remembering right, I think it was Tenzeros, 97 00:09:43.309 --> 00:09:50.190 so even more now. This is a lot of money. Everything about this 98 00:09:50.429 --> 00:09:54.860 action, the amount of it, the strength of it, the smell, 99 00:09:54.220 --> 00:09:58.779 the purity of it, the way in which it runs over his body, 100 00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:05.100 the use of her hair, the costly of it, everything is extraordinary about 101 00:10:05.139 --> 00:10:13.809 this. Now, why did she do this? Well, it says that 102 00:10:13.970 --> 00:10:20.370 she was a remembering for the day of his burial. She was anointing his 103 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:26.440 body for death, not how did she know this? Are He's not dead 104 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:31.039 yet. How did she know this? Some suggest that she was moved by 105 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:37.710 the Holy Spirit to this action through some kind of special revelation. I think 106 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:41.830 it is because she was moved by the Holy Spirit, but it's because she 107 00:10:43.029 --> 00:10:50.100 took the spirit of God's words, as others heard them too, seriously. 108 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:54.340 We don't have it here in John, but Jesus tells us in the other 109 00:10:54.419 --> 00:11:01.379 gospels. He tells the Disciples Multiple Times I'm going to die, I'm going 110 00:11:01.500 --> 00:11:05.370 to be buried and I will raise from the dead. Nobody ever seemed to 111 00:11:05.450 --> 00:11:09.370 listen to this. Nobody ever seemed to believe him about this. Everyone was 112 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:16.370 shocked and surprised when he was captured, died, buried and rose from the 113 00:11:16.409 --> 00:11:20.759 dead. Thomas, one of the disciples, didn't even believe it after it 114 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:24.480 had all happened, after the others were even testifying to him that it had 115 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:30.120 happened, that Jesus was alive from the dead. Mary, this amazing disciple, 116 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:35.750 believed Jesus. She believed his words. She could see it happening all 117 00:11:35.789 --> 00:11:39.429 around her. That hasn't John testified to us that the Jews were trying to 118 00:11:39.590 --> 00:11:43.029 arrest him, the Jews were trying to put him to death. She could 119 00:11:43.110 --> 00:11:48.259 see what was coming in God's Providence, all around her and in the words 120 00:11:48.379 --> 00:11:56.179 that Jesus had previously spoken. So maybe the better question, instead of why 121 00:11:56.299 --> 00:12:05.250 did she see this, was how did everybody else not see this? And 122 00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:11.450 that tells us that faith is extraordinary. Faith is an extraordinary thing. If 123 00:12:11.450 --> 00:12:16.399 we truly believe, as we must, that it is a gift from God, 124 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:20.360 then we will confess this. If we believe, as the Prophet of 125 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:26.600 Ezekiel says, that our hearts are changed because God changes our hearts, because 126 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:31.590 he takes stone cold hearts and turns them into hearts of flesh but live and 127 00:12:31.070 --> 00:12:37.830 breathe and beat for him. If we believe that, the Mary's actions and 128 00:12:39.070 --> 00:12:43.549 the lack of action on the rest of the world, in Judas's actions at 129 00:12:43.549 --> 00:12:48.620 all, makes perfect sense. Mary's act is extraordinary because the grace of God 130 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:56.460 is extraordinary. It is miraculous. Now, if we don't think of faith 131 00:12:56.500 --> 00:13:00.049 in this way, if we don't think of a faith in this way, 132 00:13:00.049 --> 00:13:05.690 if we always think it as within our power, then Mary will surprise us 133 00:13:07.049 --> 00:13:13.159 and all others who put their faith in Jesus in this way. But what 134 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:18.080 does the word say? It says that faith comes through hearing, and hearing 135 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:24.879 through God's word, not man's. John told US earlier in the Gospel that 136 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:30.590 we are born not of the will of man but of the will of God. 137 00:13:31.710 --> 00:13:41.429 We are not born into God's presence and his love and his pleasure because 138 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:50.779 we're so smart or good looking wealthy. We're born as children of God because 139 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:56.330 of his love, because of his will, and that is a miraculous thing. 140 00:13:56.409 --> 00:14:01.730 And if you want to know how big the changes all you have to 141 00:14:01.769 --> 00:14:09.289 do is look at Judas see how much the flesh rebelion ells against God. 142 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:13.679 It's not just Judas to the other disciples are having all kinds of problems too. 143 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:20.279 In the other gospels and in other places we learn about James and John 144 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:24.789 Coming to Jesus and saying, Hey, when you ascend to your throne, 145 00:14:24.830 --> 00:14:26.230 can you put us on your right hand and left? We want to be 146 00:14:26.669 --> 00:14:30.990 powerful in this kingdom, the sons of thunder, they were known. As 147 00:14:31.110 --> 00:14:35.429 we see Peter Denying the Gospel in such a way that Jesus says, get 148 00:14:35.590 --> 00:14:45.139 behind me, Satan. Jesus is disciples are struggling. We might say at 149 00:14:45.220 --> 00:14:50.340 this point in the coming chapters we are going to learn the marvelous outpouring the 150 00:14:50.419 --> 00:14:54.730 Holy Spirit and how these things will be changed. But here we look at 151 00:14:54.730 --> 00:15:01.769 Judas and we see what the human heart in its sinfulness, does, what 152 00:15:01.129 --> 00:15:05.169 evil there is in spite of the goodness that is poured out on man in 153 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:11.360 Jesus Christ. What is Judas do? He puts his hand and then a 154 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:16.080 money bag that was intended to serve this company of people and those whom they 155 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:20.559 were serving, and he takes it for himself. When the Lord of Heaven 156 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:24.710 has said to peep other people in his presence. I am the bread of 157 00:15:24.950 --> 00:15:28.669 life. Believe in me and you'll be saved. I give you living waters. 158 00:15:30.429 --> 00:15:35.940 Judas says, I think I'll take care of it myself. I think 159 00:15:35.940 --> 00:15:39.620 I'll help myself. Of course he does that, in this sinful way, 160 00:15:39.779 --> 00:15:45.340 taking what does not belong to him. You Mad. On top of this, 161 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:50.570 Judas is great greed, on top of a perhaps we might say, 162 00:15:50.570 --> 00:15:56.610 agreed for a good reputation, despite the fact that he's an evil man. 163 00:15:56.889 --> 00:16:00.970 Notice how he covers hiss. He doesn't just sort of sulk in the corner 164 00:16:02.169 --> 00:16:04.840 and say yeah, as a lot of night could have been had. What 165 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:10.720 does he say? Can you believe this? He says, why was this 166 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:17.039 ointment not sold? It could have been given to the poor. This pretend 167 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:22.230 righteousness. What is she she doesn't care for other people. She's wasting this 168 00:16:22.429 --> 00:16:26.070 money. It could have been done for good things. It could have been 169 00:16:26.110 --> 00:16:30.190 given to the poor. How righteous he sounds. And we know again I'm 170 00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:33.419 borrowing a lot from the other gospels here. The story occurs in all of 171 00:16:33.500 --> 00:16:38.179 them. On the the the writers of the other Gospels indicate that the other 172 00:16:38.299 --> 00:16:45.980 disciples sort of work good poor Judas. He in a way represented them. 173 00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:48.929 They were all a little bit upset about this action. Judas leading the cause 174 00:16:49.409 --> 00:16:56.529 of Calvin and other commentators of a good comment here on this, and they 175 00:16:56.610 --> 00:17:04.400 remind us how we shouldn't be quick to judge how the disciples, so disciples 176 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:11.559 foolishly throw their lot in with Judas's opinion and not with Mary's. We ought 177 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:18.230 to be careful and how we judge the actions of others. They got it 178 00:17:18.269 --> 00:17:23.029 all wrong. They thought Judas was the righteous one, but of course it 179 00:17:23.230 --> 00:17:32.099 wasn't. It was Mary. This is how the flesh hates God, this 180 00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:41.700 is how it rebels against him. When we consider Mary then, and we 181 00:17:41.779 --> 00:17:45.970 consider this example, that who had, that she shows us, we see 182 00:17:45.089 --> 00:17:49.529 guests, great actions and we see the work of God. In her, 183 00:17:49.849 --> 00:17:56.849 we find a great model of faith, an example of faith. Not only 184 00:17:56.970 --> 00:18:00.599 is she as an example of it, but is God uses her to show 185 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:07.000 the kind of work that he does in this world. As we contrast these 186 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:14.029 two ways of approaching and connecting and reacting to Jesus, Judas is and Mary's, 187 00:18:14.789 --> 00:18:19.309 let Mary be your teacher. She's a much better theologian here. She's 188 00:18:19.309 --> 00:18:25.470 a model of faith. It's no wonder that Jew or the Jesus would tell 189 00:18:25.470 --> 00:18:34.019 us that her name would be known for generations and throughout the world. So, 190 00:18:34.099 --> 00:18:37.900 as we consider this faith, this marvelous work of God's faith in her, 191 00:18:38.019 --> 00:18:41.450 as we see the sins of greed, the abuse of the poor, 192 00:18:42.009 --> 00:18:47.769 the judging quickly all of these things, how do we how do we follow 193 00:18:47.970 --> 00:18:53.170 Mary and Avoid Judas? It's a very good question, it's a very important 194 00:18:53.170 --> 00:19:03.680 one. The answers we do it by turning toward Christ, by sensitizing ourselves 195 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:11.109 to his words, his plans, his ways, by giving our complete selves 196 00:19:11.190 --> 00:19:17.589 to him. Think about two groups of people and all conclude this way and 197 00:19:17.750 --> 00:19:22.670 ask yourselves which does your heart belong to? Some people attach themselves to Christ 198 00:19:22.750 --> 00:19:26.220 because it's the easy thing to do. It's what their parents do, it's 199 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:32.539 what their friend friends do. There are people today who attached for themselves to 200 00:19:32.539 --> 00:19:37.019 Christ because they are ambitious. They want to make a name for themselves in 201 00:19:37.180 --> 00:19:48.009 his church, theologians, pastors, writers, twitter Maven's committee chairs, or 202 00:19:48.049 --> 00:19:55.400 maybe they want to find something into the church to help themselves, networking for 203 00:19:55.519 --> 00:20:02.000 one's business or something else. Some people attach themselves to Christ because they are, 204 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:07.549 in fact abusers of other people. They abuse the poor, abuse the 205 00:20:07.710 --> 00:20:14.269 weak, abused children. They seek out weak and vulnerable people, people that 206 00:20:14.309 --> 00:20:18.910 are willing to trust and give the benefit of the doubt and give a second 207 00:20:18.950 --> 00:20:22.420 chance, so that they might prey on them and fulfill their evil lusts. 208 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:30.819 Judas was like this. He hid and cloaked what he did in plausible righteousness, 209 00:20:30.859 --> 00:20:33.819 I'm one of you, so that he might prey on those he was 210 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:44.210 called to serve. And then, over these goats and wolves, there is 211 00:20:44.210 --> 00:20:51.119 another group of people, Christ's true sheep. These attach themselves to Christ because 212 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:56.000 they love him, not because they're trying to get something out of the institutions 213 00:20:56.200 --> 00:21:00.960 that he is created or the external things in the world, but because they 214 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:06.670 love him because their heart belongs to them, because he has their savior, 215 00:21:07.309 --> 00:21:11.390 because he has opened the door to the jail and set us free and to 216 00:21:12.029 --> 00:21:18.700 the land of the living. They love him because he is given them peace 217 00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:22.259 and their hearts and peace with God and peace with men, because he's poured 218 00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:26.619 out every spiritual blessing on him, on them when they didn't deserve it. 219 00:21:27.619 --> 00:21:37.930 They loved him when they were unloving and unlovable. They love him because they 220 00:21:38.210 --> 00:21:45.490 know him to be God's sacrifice that are tones for their sins and gives us 221 00:21:45.569 --> 00:21:51.640 peace. Those in the first group, who come to Jesus in this wit, 222 00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:55.319 in these ways, will eventually find that it is not easy to follow 223 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.200 Christ. It's not the easy thing to do. In fact, it's one 224 00:21:57.200 --> 00:22:03.549 of the hardest things in the world and involves suffering and challenges and rejection and 225 00:22:03.869 --> 00:22:11.269 persecution and sometimes even death. Those who come in this first group because of 226 00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:21.339 worldly things will eventually lose it all. How did Judas's life end? Suicide 227 00:22:22.420 --> 00:22:30.369 and loss of everything he had tried to gain. And those who come to 228 00:22:30.609 --> 00:22:36.970 harm God's loved ones ought to know that they will be judged by God, 229 00:22:37.650 --> 00:22:45.119 that he does not look lightly at those who would persecute his people, but 230 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.960 to those who come and receive the bread of life as beggars, who bow 231 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:53.279 down at the feet of Jesus and see him as their everything, who are 232 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:59.829 willing to follow him whatever cost, whatever price, who give all of themselves 233 00:23:00.109 --> 00:23:03.869 and recognize that they do that only because of God's grace already at work within 234 00:23:04.029 --> 00:23:08.549 them, who are, in their whole lives, beginning to end, recognizing 235 00:23:08.630 --> 00:23:19.619 God's amazing grace. These people find the scriptures say forgiveness in the salvation of 236 00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:25.859 their souls. They may suffer all kinds of hardship but, like the Apostle 237 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:29.890 Paul, they'll count at all loss, the good and the bad, for 238 00:23:29.970 --> 00:23:37.049 the exceeding value in knowing and belonging to Christ. So which group do you 239 00:23:37.130 --> 00:23:42.319 belong in? It's right for us to test our hearts and if you find 240 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:48.559 yourselves lacking in any way, which I do and I'm sure we all do, 241 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:56.190 go to Christ, who gives himself freely to you that you might receive 242 00:23:56.269 --> 00:24:00.230 him, know him, love him and belong to him. Amen.